Free and low-cost online alternatives to the MyPyramid diet assessment tools are available. None provides a comprehensive diet assessment, but all provide simple guidance in making healthier food choices.

• NutritionQuest fat, fruit and vegetable screeners at http://nutritionquest.com/freetools/index.htm. Free quizzes take less than five minutes each to complete and provide feedback on saturated fat, fiber and fruit and vegetable intakes. A more comprehensive quiz tool costs $15 and takes about a half-hour to complete using pencil and paper.
• NIBBLE nutrition information site sponsored by the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Simple quizzes at www.umass.edu/nibble/ratings/queslist.htm give feedback on sugar, sodium and fat intakes.
• Rate Your Restaurant Diet at www.cspinet.org/nah/quiz/index.html. Take the quiz to evaluate how well you do eating away from home.
• Calculate your body mass index or BMI -- an indicator of total body fat -- by using an online calculator from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute at www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/bmicalc.htm.
• Go to www-users.med.cornell.edu/~spon/picu/calc/beecalc.htm for a handy calculator that determines the number of calories you need each day to maintain your current weight. To lose a pound a week, subtract 500 calories.