Addition of food group equivalents to the Canadian Diet History Questionnaire II for the estimation of the Canadian Healthy Eating Index-2005

• Published in: Health promotion and chronic disease prevention in Canada Vol. 38; no. 3; pp. 125 - 134
• Main Authors: McInerney, Maria, Ho, Vikki, Koushik, Anita, Massarelli, Isabelle, Rondeau, Isabelle, McCormack, Gavin R, Csizmadi, Ilona
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Canada Public Health Agency of Canada 01-03-2018
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Canada; Databases, Factual; diet quality, healthy eating index, food frequency questionnaire, dietary assessment, nutrient database; Diet Surveys; Diet, Healthy; Educational Status; Female; Food; Guidelines as Topic; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Recommended Dietary Allowances; Sex Factors; Smoking; Young Adult; Canada; food frequency questionnaire; dietary assessment; nutrient database; diet quality; healthy eating index
• ISSN: 2368-738X; 2368-738X
• DOI: 10.24095/hpcdp.38.3.03

Poor diet quality has been shown to increase the risk of common chronic diseases that can negatively impact quality of life and burden the healthcare system. Canada's Food Guide evidence-based recommendations provide dietary guidance aimed at increasing diet quality. Compliance with Canada's Food Guide can be assessed with the Canadian Healthy Eating Index (C-HEI), a diet quality score. The recently designed Canadian Diet History Questionnaire II (C-DHQ II), a comprehensive food frequency questionnaire could be used to estimate the C-HEI in Canadian populations with the addition of food group equivalents (representing Canada's Food Guide servings) to the C-DHQ II nutrient database. We describe methods developed to augment the C-DHQ II nutrient database to estimate the C-HEI.
Food group equivalents were created using food and nutrient data from existing published food and nutrient databases (e.g. the Canadian Community Health Survey - Cycle 2.2 Nutrition [2004]). The variables were then added to the C-DHQ II companion nutrient database. C-HEI scores were determined and descriptive analyses conducted for participants who completed the C-DHQ II in a cross-sectional Canadian study.
The mean (standard deviation) C-HEI score in this sample of 446 adults aged 20 to 83 was 64.4 (10.8). Women, non-smokers, and those with more than high school education had statistically significant higher C-HEI scores than men, smokers and those with high school diplomas or less.
The ability to assess C-HEI using the C-DHQ II facilitates the study of diet quality and health outcomes in Canada.