Definition: 'Diet Quality Index'
diet quality index
Type: Term
Definitions:
1. a measure of the quality of the diet using a composite of eight recommendations regarding the consumption of foods and nutrients from the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). Meeting the standard is assigned a value of 0, within 30% of goal a value of 1, and differing by more than 30% a value of 2. The resulting index can be a figure of between 0–16, the lower the better. The NAS recommendations include: reducing total fat intake to 30% or less of total energy; reducing saturated fatty-acid intake to less than 10% of energy; reducing cholesterol intake to less than 300 mg daily; eating five or more servings daily of vegetables and fruits; increasing intake of starches and other complex carbohydrates by eating six or more servings daily of bread, cereal, and legumes; maintaining protein intake at moderate levels (levels lower than twice the RDA); limiting total daily intake of sodium to 2400 mg or less; and maintaining adequate calcium intake (approximately the RDA).
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