ABOUT THE DASHBOARD

Purdue’s American Diet Quality Index (PADQI) is calculated as the national average Mini-EAT™ score for a sample of approximately 1200 American adults. Data is collected as part of the Center for Food Demand Analysis and Sustainability’s monthly Consumer Food Insights survey, which incorporates the validated Mini-EAT (Eating Assessment Tool) questionnaire and scoring method (Lara-Breitinger et al., 2022). In addition to the PADQI, the top chart also shows scores for the 25th and 75th percentiles of the sample, as well as thresholds established by Lara-Breitinger et al. (2022) for “Healthy” and “Unhealthy” diets. The ‘Scores by Income Category’ tab shows average scores by income category: less than $50,000, $50,000-$99,999 and $100,000 or more.

HOW TO USE IT

Users can select between the ‘All’ and ‘Index by Income Category’ tabs. The ‘All’ tab displays the American Diet Quality Index with 25th and 75th percentiles by month in the top figure and the share (%) of American adults’ diets classified as unhealthy by month in the bottom figure. The dotted lines represent the healthy (69<) and unhealthy (<61) thresholds. The ‘Scores by Income Category’ tab displays the average scores by annual household income levels. The dashboard will be updated monthly. 

VARIABLE DEFINITIONS

Mini-EAT score: A score developed by Lara-Breitinger et al. (2022) indicating diet quality based on a short 9-item dietary assessment. Diet scores are classified into one of three categories: unhealthy (<61), intermediate (61-69), and healthy (69<). 

Date: Data available from February 2024 to current date.

Classification Scale: healthy (69<), intermediate (61-69), unhealthy (<61) 

Survey weight: The value assigned to each observation using an iterative proportional fitting (raking) procedure. 

American Diet Quality Index: Represents the weighted average Mini-EAT score. The weighted average is calculated by multiplying the individual ‘Survey weight’ by the ‘Mini-EAT score,’ summing these values, then dividing the sum by the sum of the ‘Survey weights.’ In the ‘All’ tab, this represents the weighted average for the entire sample in the given month. In the ‘Income’ tab, this represents the weighted average by income group in the given month. 

Share (%): Represents the weighted proportion of Mini-EAT scores that are classified as unhealthy (<61) by month. 

25th percentile: 25% of scores in the given month are equal or below this value 

75th percentile: 75% of scores in the given month are equal or below this value

Scores by Income Category: Average scores by annual household income category: less than $50,000, $50,000-$99,999 and $100,000 or more

SOURCE

Center for Food Demand Analysis & Sustainability (CFDAS) at Purdue University, and Department of Agricultural Economics at Purdue University.  

Data is from the Purdue Center for Food Demand and Analysis’ Consumer Food Insight Survey.  

Diet quality indexes are weighted average Mini-EAT scores from the Consumer Food Insights sample, where Mini-EAT scores are computed based on Lara-Breitinger KM et al. Validation of a Brief Dietary Questionnaire for Use in Clinical Practice: Mini-EAT (Eating Assessment Tool). J Am Heart Assoc. 2023 Jan 3;12(1):e025064. doi: 10.1161/JAHA.121.025064. Epub 2022 Dec 30. PMID: 36583423; PMCID: PMC9973598. 

DASHBOARD AUTHORS

Annapurni Subramaniam, Elijah Bryant, Caitlinn Hubbell, Joseph Balagtas