TY - JOUR

T1 - Application of a Modified Healthy Eating Index (HEI-Flex) to Compare the Diet Quality of Flexitarians, Vegans and Omnivores in Germany

AU - Bruns, Anja

AU - Müller, Mattea

AU - Schneider, Inga

AU - Hahn, Andreas

N1 - Funding Information: We would like to thank the participants who contributed their time to this study. The publication of this article was funded by the Open Access Fund of the Leibniz University Hannover.

PY - 2022/7/24

Y1 - 2022/7/24

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - diet quality

KW - flexitarians

KW - Healthy Eating Index

KW - HEI-flex

KW - plant-based alternatives

KW - vegans

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85135109141&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3390/nu14153038

DO - 10.3390/nu14153038

M3 - Article

C2 - 35893892

AN - SCOPUS:85135109141

VL - 14

JO - NUTRIENTS

JF - NUTRIENTS

SN - 2072-6643

IS - 15

M1 - 3038

ER -