Application of a Food-Based Nutritional Profiling System to Assess Diet Quality in Diet-Level Data: Evidence on Construct and Convergent Validity from the Hatoyama Cohort Study and Kusatsu Cohort Study
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Background:Nutrient profiling systems (NPS) are designed to classify foods by nutritional quality, but most validations occur at the food level.Their applicability to diet-level data from dietary questionnaires-commonly used in epidemiology-remains unclear.To evaluate the construct and convergent validity of the Meiji Nutritional Profiling System for Older Adults (MNPS-OA), the first NPS developed for older populations, when applied to diet-level data. Methods:Cross-sectional data from the Hatoyama Cohort Study and the Kusatsu Cohort Study involving 1,102 Japanese adults aged 65 years and older were utilized.Dietary data were analyzed using a validated brief dietary history questionnaire.Four MNPS-OA specifications were tested: (i) original, (ii) without energy limits (WEL), (iii) without nutrient caps (WC), and (iv) without energy limit and nutrient caps (WEL-WC).Construct validity was assessed by inter-model correlations; convergent validity was evaluated against HEI-2015 and NRF9.3. Results:Median MNPS-OA scores ranged from 124.5 (original) to 391.6 (WEL-WC).Correlations with J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f HEI-2015 improved from r=0.27 (original) to 0.58 (WEL-WC), and with NRF9.3 from r=0.26 to 0.61.Removing nutrient caps substantially enhanced convergence, whereas removing energy limits had minimal effect. Conclusions:MNPS-OA can be adapted for diet-level assessment with targeted modifications.Eliminating nutrient caps markedly improves alignment with established diet quality indices, supporting its potential use in large-scale epidemiological studies and public health applications.
Language: English
Topic: Nutritional Studies and Diet
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $5,000
OpenAlex ID: W7119067706