Research
Mixed
Dietary diversity measures (count, evenness, dissimilarity) are not standardized and do not consistently correlate with diet quality scores like HEI or DASH.
Do not rely on 'dietary diversity scores' to judge your diet's health. These scores are not standardized and often do not reflect actual diet quality. Focus on specific food groups (vegetables, fruits, whole grains) rather than the number of different foods you eat.
GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
There is no standardized measure for dietary diversity; self-reported dietary diversity has been defined in most studies as the count (ie, the number of food or food groups consumed over a specific period [1–15 d]).
Why this rating
Based on a comprehensive review of multiple studies and measures.
Source
Dietary Diversity: Implications for Obesity Prevention in Adult Populations: A Science Advisory From the American Heart Association
Marcia C. de Oliveira Otto et al. · Circulation · 2018
DOI 10.1161/cir.0000000000000595
clinical_guidelineCited 142×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
Related findings · Mixed
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