Review of Diet Quality Indices Applicable to Environmental Assessment of Foods and Diets (2024)

This review evaluates various diet quality indices for their relevance in environmental assessments of foods, focusing on sustainability. Five main groups of indices are identified: nutrient-food quantity-based, guideline-based, diversity-based, nutrient quality-based, and health-based. The study finds that nutrient-food quantity-based and guideline-type indices are most commonly used, while health-based indices are emerging as valuable for integrating diet quality with environmental impact metrics. The review underscores the importance of developing comprehensive, multidimensional tools to assess both nutrition and environmental sustainability.