Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Oct 8.
doi: 10.1111/1747-0080.70049. Online ahead of print.

Change in diet quality and differences in characteristics in Australian adults who completed the Healthy Eating Quiz: A cohort study

Sasha Fenton  1   2 , Megan Whatnall  1   2 , Hannah Edwards  1 , Amelia Rae  1 , Anna Jansson  1   2 , Erin D Clarke  1   2 , Clare E Collins  1   2
Affiliations

Change in diet quality and differences in characteristics in Australian adults who completed the Healthy Eating Quiz: A cohort study

Sasha Fenton et al. Nutr Diet. .

Abstract

Aim: Investigate changes in diet quality scores in adults who repeated a brief online dietary assessment tool, the Healthy Eating Quiz, and whether changes in diet quality varied by sociodemographic variables, dietary characteristics, or motivations for completing the tool.

Methods: This is a secondary analysis of longitudinal data collected July 2019-May 2022. Data from respondents aged 16-100 years who repeated the dietary assessment tool were analysed, including diet quality, measured using the validated Australian Recommended Food Score (range 0-73), sociodemographic and dietary characteristics (gender, age, socioeconomic status, vegetarian status, and meal sharing), and the main motivation for completing the tool. Paired t-tests assessed change in score between first and second tool completion (reported as mean (SD)). One-way ANOVA was used to test whether mean change in score differed by respondent sociodemographic, dietary, or motivation variables.

Results: Across 5189 respondents (73.6% female, 42.0 (17.4) years), mean score improved by 2.28 points during a mean 231 (11) days (p <0.001). Non-vegetarians reported a significantly greater improvement in score than vegetarians (2.39 (6.78) versus 1.56 (6.97) points, p = 0.003). Similarly, those who ate main meals alone improved more (2.70 (7.05) points) compared to those who ate with one (2.15 (6.67) points) or ≥two others (2.14 (6.72) points, p = 0.035).

Conclusion: Using the Healthy Eating Quiz, a diet quality assessment tool, on repeated occasions may contribute to improvements in diet quality in adults.

Keywords: Australian Recommended Food Score; Healthy Eating Quiz; diet quality; eating behaviours.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Imamura F, Micha R, Khatibzadeh S, et al. Dietary quality among men and women in 187 countries in 1990 and 2010: a systematic assessment. Lancet Glob Health. 2015;3(3):e132‐e142.
    1. Australian Institute of Health & Welfare. Australian Burden of Disease Study 2024 2024. Available from: https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/burden‐of‐disease/australian‐burden‐of‐d...
    1. Mokdad AH, Bisignano C, Hsu JM, et al. The burden of diseases, injuries, and risk factors by state in the USA, 1990‐2021: a systematic analysis for the global burden of disease study 2021. Lancet. 2024;404(10469):2314‐2340.
    1. Australian Government National Health and Medical Research Council. Australian Guide to Healthy Eating 2017. Available from: https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/guidelines/australian-guide-healthy-eating
    1. US Department of Health and Human Services and US Department of Agriculture. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020‐2025. 2020 Available from: https://odphp.health.gov/our‐work/nutrition‐physical‐activity/dietary‐gu...

LinkOut - more resources