Diet Quality of Older Americans in 1994-1996 and 2001-2002 as Measured by the Healthy Eating Index-2005

The Healthy Eating Index-2005 (HEI-2005) has been revised to measure diet quality according to the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The HEI-2005 includes 12 components: Total Fruit; Whole Fruit (forms other than juice); Total Vegetables; Dark Green and Orange Vegetables and Legumes; Total Grains; Whole Grains; Milk; Meat and Beans; Oils; Saturated Fat; Sodium; and Calories from Solid Fat, Alcohol, and Added Sugar (SoFAAS). Component scores are summed for a total score with a maximum value of 100. This study examines diet quality of adults age 65 years and older by using food consumption data from the 1994-1996 Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals (n=2,314) and the 2001-2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (n=1,061). SAS and SUDAAN were used to estimate population scores. In 2001-2002, older adults scored the lowest for the components of Whole Grains, Dark Green and Orange Vegetables and Legumes, Milk, Sodium, and Calories from SoFAAS (32-58% of maximum scores). Compared to 1994-96, older adults in 2001-2002 had significantly improved scores for Oil and Sodium and lower score for Total Vegetables (p<0.05). Scores for Whole Fruit, Total Grains, and Meat and Beans remained at the maximum levels. The total HEI-2005 score in 2001-2002 was not significantly higher than in 1994-1996. This reflects the fact that some aspects of their diet quality improved while others did not. Nutrition education efforts need to focus on improving many aspects of the quality of the diets of older Americans.