We have used the DQI derived by Kim et al 2003 (Kim, S., Haines, P.S., Siega-Riz, A.M., & Popkin, B.M. (2003). The diet quality index-international (DQI-I) provides an effective tool for cross-national comparison of diet quality as illustrated by china and the united states. Journal of Nutrition, 133, 3476-3484) in our work (Children's Lifestyle and School Performance Study II, www.nsclass.ca). This is a composite measure of diet quality ranging from 0 to 100. DQI values encompass dietary variety (i.e., overall variety and variety within protein sources, to assess whether intake comes from diverse sources both across and within food groups), adequacy (i.e. the intake of dietary elements that must be supplied sufficiently to guarantee a healthy diet), moderation (i.e. intake of food and nutrients that are related to chronic diseases and that may need restriction), and balance (i.e. the overall balance of diet in terms of proportionality in energy sources and fatty acid composition).

Depends which country or disease-specific recommendations you want to compare to. This article is good for highlighting the pros and cons of different indices Waijers BJN 2007 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17298689

There is no obesity-specific dietary index, although you may be able to develop simplified dietary pattern score (see approach Schulze BJN 2003 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12628035) based on results from data-driven dietary patterns shown to be associated with obesity e.g. Johnson AJCN 2008

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18400706 and Ambrosini IJO 2012 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22868831

There is also an additional aspect that is not as much nutrient derived as behaviorally driven. How many eating occasions per day? inter-meal interval? composition of meals vs. "snacks." Place the meals/snacks are ingested. There are also important considerations when considering the obesogenic nature of the diet.

I agree with Laura Johnson. For research purposes I prefer the average of three non consecutive 24-h recalls incluidin a weekend day. In our country a good indicator o f quality is to ask how many fruits and vegetables the child eats every day. The national recommendation is 4 portions of fruits and 2 of vegetables.

Susan makes an excellent point, they way food is eaten may be equally likely to contribute to obesity as much as the type of food that is eaten. But at present the literature is a lot less clear in terms of the kind of eating patterns that are optimal for obesity (see systematic review by Mesas et al Obesity Reviews 2012 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21955734). Meaning developing an index including obesity-promoting eating patterns would be a lot more difficult at this time - first more fundamental research is required exploring variation in eating patterns in tandem with variation in dietary patterns in relation to long-term changes in obesity.

Totally agreed--and I'll admit that the reason I'm interested is that it's less considered and therefore perhaps has a unique contribution to make. Could you include something as simple as number of eating occasions per day and the distribution of energy over the day as exploratory indicators?

Avoiding sweets and gum, and sugar meal is very importants

Yes the daily 24 hours recall is considered resonable index for this age group, however it;s recommended to collect the dietary data from the child in presence of his mother. The method of cooking, the food ingridients of the cooked dishes, and its portion size may significantly affect the results of the food cosumption pattern.

24-hour dietary recall is good to assess the amount of calories intake, however we need the assist from parents or guardian in getting the record. By asking their eating habits (regularity of breakfast intake/ fruits & vege intake etc) is important as well.

I agree with Laura & S Johnson. As far as i know, there is no established index to assess the diet quality among children. Apart from the dietary intake, behavior and environment have a greater role to play. Parents are the role models for this age group. The dietary habits of the parents are emulated by the children. Diet quality assessment may not give us a real picture unless accompanied by practice, attitude and behaviour. Peer influences also affect the diet quality. since the children have to attend school., seeking information from them in totality may not be the right approach to assess the diet quality. I just came across a paper on "The CAAFE questionnaire was developed for school-based surveys of 7 to 10-year-old children. " for further information on this, pl. refer to the link below;http://www.researchprotocols.org/2013/2/e31/

Diet recall for 2 nonconsecutive days and a Sunday describe diet pattern of children well. However for dietary habits of the children, one may use a structured food frequency questionnaire asking frequency of eating fast foods, fruits, vegetables, etc.

We have used the DQI derived by Kim et al 2003 (Kim, S., Haines, P.S., Siega-Riz, A.M., & Popkin, B.M. (2003). The diet quality index-international (DQI-I) provides an effective tool for cross-national comparison of diet quality as illustrated by china and the united states. Journal of Nutrition, 133, 3476-3484) in our work (Children's Lifestyle and School Performance Study II, www.nsclass.ca). This is a composite measure of diet quality ranging from 0 to 100. DQI values encompass dietary variety (i.e., overall variety and variety within protein sources, to assess whether intake comes from diverse sources both across and within food groups), adequacy (i.e. the intake of dietary elements that must be supplied sufficiently to guarantee a healthy diet), moderation (i.e. intake of food and nutrients that are related to chronic diseases and that may need restriction), and balance (i.e. the overall balance of diet in terms of proportionality in energy sources and fatty acid composition).

the weight between 4 and 6 years of their childhood is very important to determine overweight and obesity in future age (adiposity rebound) you can see it as a peak on the growth curves (BMI according to age and gender) like IOTF cut-off's

As it appears from the discussions, diet quality is required to be assessed at nutrient level. If so, we have developed an adolescent micronutrient quality index for Indians. Similar can be developed for other populations based upon the local nutrient requirements. our article is published in J Am Diet Assoc. 2010;110:926-931.