Nutrients
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
The Design, Development and Evaluation of the Vegetarian Lifestyle Index on Dietary Patterns among Vegetarians and Non-Vegetarians.
Traditionally, healthful diets and lifestyles have been examined only in relation to single nutrients, foods, or food groups in terms of dietary exposure. An alternative approach is to conceptualize an index based on vegetarian food pyramid guidelines as a measure of overall diet and lifestyle quality. Our objectives were to: (1) develop the Vegetarian Lifestyle Index (VLI); and (2) evaluate adherence to the Vegetarian Food Guide Pyramid (VFGP) among a low-risk population of Adventists. ⋯ Vegetarians scored on average 1.18 to 2.73 more points than their non-vegetarian counterparts. Results demonstrate that the index has strong discriminant ability across distinct dietary patterns. Additionally, the VLI provides a useful measure of diet and lifestyle adherence to further refine vegetarian food pyramid guidelines.