Validating a Nutrition Ranking System for Food Pantries Using the Healthy Eating Index-2015

Start Date: June 2021

ID #: CAS076

Organization: University of Connecticut

Project Lead: Caitlin Caspi

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The overall goal of this study is to develop a Healthy Charitable Foods Index that can be used by food banks to translate the pounds by category values into a value that corresponds meaningfully to the USDA’s Healthy Eating Index (HEI) scores. The subrecipient will compare a set of foods in the charitable food system ranked according to the Healthy Eating Research Nutrition Guidelines for the Charitable Food System (HER nutrition guidelines) with HEI scores. The planned analysis will: (1) establish the validity of the HER nutrition guidelines using the HEI as the gold standard; (2) support the interpretation of differences in food rankings; and (3) generate a method to summarize the nutritional quality score for any set of foods ranked by the HER nutrition guidelines. Results will be used to promote a more nutritious food supply within the charitable food system.

Resource Type: Commissioned Research Project Summary

Focus Areas: Diet Quality & Healthy Weight, Food Access

Keywords: Food insecurity, Nutrition standards

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