Development of nutrition education tool: healthy eating index in Thailand

A healthful diet can reduce major risk factors for chronic diseases. To assess the dietary status of Thais and monitor changes in food consumption patterns, the Healthy Eating Index for Thais (THEI) is developed, an important tool for meeting the nutrition goals and determining people's overall diet quality. This index measures how well the diets of Thai people conform to the recommendations of the Food Guide Thailand Nutrition Flag. The THEI consists of 11 components, each representing different aspects of a healthful diet: Components 1-5 measure the degree to which a person's diet conforms to serving recommendations for the five major food groups of Thailand Nutrition Flag; Components 6, 7 and 8 measure total fat, saturated fat and added sugar consumption, respectively; Components 9 and 10 measure total cholesterol and sodium intake; and Component 11 examines variety in a person's diet. Each of the 11 components has a score ranging from 0 to 10, for a total score of 110. The dietary intake data from selected working adults were collected to derive the THEI scores. The average THEI score indicated that the diets of most people needed improvement and some individuals were more likely than others to consume a poor diet. This suggests a continued role for nutrition education and promotion efforts should result in a significant improvement of people's overall diet quality. In conclusion, the THEI is an useful index for describing overall diet quality for Thais and serves as a basic tool for providing nutrition education and promotion.