TABLE 1
Food groups used to assess dietary accordance to the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension
Food group Foods included Scoring1
Fruits All fresh, dried, and tinned fruit and fruit juice +
Vegetables All vegetables, including fresh, canned, and frozen peas and
green beans, but not potatoes
+
Nuts and legumes Dried beans and dried peas, nuts, peanut butter, baked beans,
and soya food
+
Whole grains Whole-grain bread, crisp bread, brown rice, whole-meal
pasta, porridge, cereals
+
Low-fat dairy products Yogurt, low-fat cottage cheese, low-fat margarine, low-fat
milk
+
Red and processed meats Beef, beef burgers, pork, lamb, bacon, ham, corned beef,
sausages
2
Foods high in added sugars Confectionary, sweetened grain-based products (sweet
biscuits, sweet pastries, and buns); sugar-sweetened
carbonated drinks; sugar added to hot drinks and breakfast
cereals
2
Sodium Dietary sodium 2
1
Scoring of “1” indicates food groups that are positively scored; “2” indicates food groups that are negatively scored
(i.e., greater consumption of these groups is associated with a lower score).