Healthy Eating Index

Copyright

2010

Published By

United States Department of Agriculture

The Healthy Eating Index (HEI) is a measure of diet quality that assesses conformance to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. USDA's primary use of the HEI is to monitor the diet quality of the U.S. population and the low-income sub-population. For this purpose the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP) uses the data collected via 24-hour dietary recalls in national surveys. The HEI is also used to examine relationships between diet and health-related outcomes, and to assess the quality of food assistance packages, menus, and the US food supply.