The relationship with self rated health status and the overall quality of dietary intake of Turkish females; Healthy Eating Index Study

Abstract

Aim: Our objectives were to assess the relationship between HEI (Healthy Eating Index) scores – indicators of diet quality and healthy food intake patterns –daily nutrient intake -self rated health status and anthropometric measurements. Materials and Methods: The participants were 566 randomly selected Turkish healthy female university students aged 17-32 years. Results: The mean score of HEI was 66.8±11.26 in female university students. 80.2, 11.7 and 8.1% of females diets were categorized into “needs improvement”, “good” and “poor” respectively. Discussion: The HEI score of those who don’t have a health problem have been found to be higher than those who have health problems. Moreover, the cholesterol intake (through a diet) levels of those who have health problems are significantly higher than those who don’t have health problems (p<0.05).