ECON3.B. Diet quality: Percentage of children ages 2–18 by age, poverty status, and diet quality as measured by the Healthy Eating Index, 1994–1996, 1999–2000, and 2001

Characteristic	1994–1996	1999–2000	2001–2002
Ages 2–6
All income
Good diet	22	20	27
Needs improvement	69	74	65
Poor diet	9	6	8
Below poverty
Good diet	17	19	27
Needs improvement	72	77	64
Poor diet	11	4	9
At or above poverty
Good diet	24	21	26
Needs improvement	68	73	66
Poor diet	8	6	8
Ages 7–12
All income
Good diet	10	8	9
Needs improvement	76	79	75
Poor diet	14	13	16
Below poverty
Good diet	7	7	12
Needs improvement	72	75	68
Poor diet	16	18	20
At or above poverty
Good diet	11	8	8
Needs improvement	76	81	77
Poor diet	13	11	15
Ages 13–18
All income
Good diet	5	4	5
Needs improvement	70	77	73
Poor diet	25	19	22
Below poverty
Good diet	3	4	4
Needs improvement	69	77	71
Poor diet	28	19	25
At or above poverty
Good diet	6	4	5
Needs improvement	70	76	75
Poor diet	24	20	20
Note: A Healthy Eating Index (HEI) score above 80 implies a good diet, an HEI score between 51 and 80 implies a diet that needs improvement, and an HEI score less than 51 implies a poor diet. See Indicator ECON3.B for a description of the HEI. Data for the three time periods are not necessarily comparable because of methodological differences in data collection. For 1994–1996 and 1999–2000, HEI percentages may not exactly match previously published percentages because of differences in calculation methods.
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1994–96 Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals; and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1999–2000 and 2001–2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.