[Indices of diet quality as a tool for integrated assessment of dietary intake]

The review presents an analysis of the construction and properties of indices of diet quality (IDQ), developed in different countries and known under different names: Diet quality index (DQI), Healthy eating index (HEI,) and other names. The analysis of the data on three directions of research on validation of IDQ - correlation with its components (internal validation), association with risk assessments of morbidity and mortality, and association with biomarkers of nutritional status and risk of noncommunicable chronic diseases (NCD), which strongly indicate the possibility of IDQ as a tool for epidemiological studies of the relationship of nutrition, nutritional status and health has been submitted. Analysis of the composition of various types of IDQ allowed to formulate general principles of their development (construction). IDQ are based on recommendations for healthy nutrition of the population and assess the degree of commitment of the population to adhere to the recommendations. The design of the IDQ should be applicable to all categories of the population, regardless of gender, age (older than 2 years), national and regional characteristics of nutrition of the population, which allows a comparative assessment of the diet quality of different categories of the population. IDQ focus on the assessment of four main aspects of a healthy diet: food diversity, adequacy of consumption of adequacy of consumption of major groups or some subgroups of the most valuable foods, moderation and balance of the diet. All IDQ consist of two groups of indicators-components: indicators of adequacy of food consumption and indicators of consumption of critically important food factors, the consumption of which should be limited, i.e. indicators of risk factors of NCD. The standard values of adequacy of consumption of both groups of indicators should be expressed in the «density» of consumption of foods and nutrients per 1000 calories or as a percentage of the total calorie intake. Based on these principles, it is planned to develop and evaluate the reliability and objectivity of IDQ according to the study of the dietary intake of Russian population.

Investigating Items to Improve the Validity of the Five-Item Healthy Eating Score Compared with the 2015 Healthy Eating Index in a Military Population

Military researchers utilize a five-item healthy eating score (HES-5) in the Global Assessment Tool (GAT) questionnaire to quickly assess the overall diet quality of military personnel. This study aimed to modify the HES-5 to improve its validity relative to the 2015 Healthy Eating Index (HEI-2015) in active duty military personnel (n = 333). A food frequency questionnaire was used to calculate HEI-2015 scores and to assess sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) intake in 8-oz (SSB-8) and 12-oz servings. GAT nutrition questions were used to calculate HES-5 scores and capture breakfast and post-exercise recovery fueling snack (RFsnack) frequencies. Two scoring options were considered for the highest RFsnack category: "4" vs. "5" (RFsnack-5). Potential candidates were added alone and in combination to the HES-5 and compared to the HEI-2015 with a Pearson correlation coefficient. Scores with the highest correlations were compared via a z-score equation to identify the simplest modification to the HES-5. Correlations between HES-5 and HEI-2015 scores in total participants, males, and females were 0.41, 0.45 and 0.32, respectively. Correlations were most significantly improved in total participants by adding RFsnack-5, SSB-8, RFsnack-5 + SSB-8, and RFsnack-5 + SSB-8 + breakfast, though the addition of SSB-8 + RFsnack-5 performed best (r = 0.53). Future work should consider scoring mechanisms, serving sizes, and question wording.

Regularity of Breakfast Consumption and Diet: Insights from National Adult Nutrition Survey

Breakfast is considered to be one of the most important meals of the day. Its omission has been reported to be associated with increased disease risk, such as obesity, diabetes, and coronary heart disease, as well as unhealthy lifestyle and lower dietary quality. Using data from the National Adult Nutrition Survey (NANS)-a food consumption survey conducted among 1500 Irish men and women over 18 years of age, residing in the Republic of Ireland at the time the survey was conducted-we aimed to characterize breakfast regularity, identify dietary patterns associated with regular breakfast consumption, and assess the nutritional quality of such dietary patterns, using the nutrient-rich food index score NRF9.3. We determined two breakfast regularity categories and assessed dietary quality, by means of adherence to the principal component analysis derived dietary patterns and the NRF9.3 dietary index. Regular breakfast consumers were identified as those who consumed breakfast 3⁻4 times out of the 4 days of the collection period; such consumers comprised the majority of the population (94.4%). They had the highest adherence to healthier dietary patterns, namely, the "vegetarian" (odds ratio (OR): 2.59: 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.40, 4.77), "fish and vegetables" (OR: 2.88: 95% CI: 1.63, 5.10), and "breakfast cereals" (OR: 4.62: 95% CI: 2.43, 8.79) dietary patterns. Breakfast significantly contributed to the daily micronutrient intake by providing, on average, 24% of dietary fiber, 32% of iron, 30% of calcium, 32% of folate, and 37% of riboflavin. The importance of regular breakfast consumption on those who skip breakfast should be highlighted, in order to improve compliance with nutritional recommendations and adherence to a healthy lifestyle.