The diet quality index evaluates the adequacy of energy provided by dietary macronutrients

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the relationship between macronutrient intake adequacy and the national diet quality index score. Methods: The study analyzed a representative sample of 1,662 individuals from the municipality of São Paulo who participated in a cross-sectional study called Health Survey-Capital (2008/2009). Two 24-hour recalls were collected. Habitual intake was determined by the Multiple Source Method. The Brazilian index was calculated as suggested, and macronutrient adequacy was given by the World Health Organization and Food and Agriculture Organization recommendations. A generalized linear model verified the relationship between the Brazilian index and macronutrient adequacy. All analyses with a descriptive level below 0.05 were considered significant. The analyses were performed by the software Stata 12.0, survey mode. Results: The vast majority (91%) of the population had inappropriate macronutrient intakes, and the total median Brazilian index score was 61.3 points (interquartile range=10.1). The total Brazilian index score of individuals with high lipid intake was worse than that of individuals with proper lipid intake (β=0,96; p=0,004), while those with high protein intake had a better score (β=1,10; p=0,003) than those with proper protein intake. Conclusion: The revised Brazilian Healthy Eating Index assesses diet quality properly regarding high lipid intake, but it has some limitations regarding high protein intake according to the World Health Organization and Food and Agriculture Organization recommendations. New studies should investigate the possibility of adapting this index to the World Health Organization and Food and Agriculture Organization recommendations.