Application of a Modified Healthy Eating Index (HEI-Flex) to Compare the Diet Quality of Flexitarians, Vegans and Omnivores in Germany
- authored by
- Anja Bruns, Mattea Müller, Inga Schneider, Andreas Hahn
- Abstract
Interest in plant-based nutrition has steadily increased in the western world in the recent years. The number of people following a meat-reduced, flexitarian diet is growing continuously. However, little is known about the diet quality of flexitarians compared to vegans or omnivores. Therefore, in this cross-sectional study, the food intake of 94 participants aged between 25–45 years was recorded via a validated food frequency questionnaire and 28 self-designed questions about the consumption of plant-based alternatives. An adapted Healthy Eating Index, HEI-flex, was developed to evaluate the diet quality of flexitarians, vegans and omnivores. Higher score points (SP) of the HEI-flex are associated with higher compliance with the official diet recommendations (Vmax = 100 SP). Finally, flexitarians scored significantly more highly when compared to omnivores (54 ± 8 vs. 47 ± 9 SP; p = 0.008) but lower than vegans (54 ± 8 vs. 61 ± 10 SP; p = 0.010). The results showed that the HEI-flex is a useful tool for assessing and comparing the diet quality of flexitarians, vegans and omnivores. Despite the consumption of highly processed plant-based alternatives, reduction in meat and meat products seems to be accompanied by increased overall diet quality.
- Organisation(s)
-
Nutrition Physiology and Human Nutrition Section
Institute of Food Science and Human Nutrition
- Type
- Article
- Journal
- NUTRIENTS
- Volume
- 14
- ISSN
- 2072-6643
- Publication date
- 24.07.2022
- Publication status
- Published
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Food Science, Nutrition and Dietetics
- Electronic version(s)
-
https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14153038 (Access:
Open)
