Abstract
BackgroundThe objective of this study was to develop a questionnaire for caregivers to assess the eating behavior of Chinese preschoolers.MethodsTo assess children’s eating behaviors, 152 items were derived from a broad review of the literature related to epidemiology surveys and the assessment of children’s eating behaviors. All of these items were reviewed by 50 caregivers of preschoolers and 10 experienced pediatricians. Seventy-seven items were selected for use in a primary questionnaire. After conducting an exploratory factor analysis and a variability analysis on the data from 313 preschoolers used to evaluate this primary questionnaire, we deleted 39 of these 77 items. A Chinese Preschoolers’ Eating Behavior Questionnaire (CPEBQ) was finally established from the remaining 38 items. The structure of this questionnaire was explored by factor analysis, and its reliability, validity and discriminative ability were evaluated with data collected from caregivers of 603 preschoolers.ResultsThe CPEBQ consisted of 7 dimensions and 38 items. The 7 dimensions were food fussiness, food responsiveness, eating habit, satiety responsiveness, exogenous eating, emotional eating and initiative eating. The Cronbach’s α coefficient for the questionnaire was 0.92, and the test-retest reliability was 0.72. There were significant differences between the scores of normal-weight, overweight and obese preschoolers when it was referred to food fussiness, food responsiveness, eating habits, satiety responsiveness and emotional eating (p<0.05). Differences in caregiver’s education levels also had significant effects on scores for food fussiness, eating habits and exogenous eating (p<0.05).ConclusionsThe CPEBQ satisfies the conditions of reliability and validity, in accordance with psychometric demands. The questionnaire can be employed to evaluate the characteristics of Chinese preschoolers’ eating behaviors; therefore, it can be used in child health care practice and research.
Highlights
The objective of this study was to develop a questionnaire for caregivers to assess the eating behavior of Chinese preschoolers
The results indicated that 7 dimensions of the questionnaire provided good fit for the data (NFI = 0.88, non-normed fit index (NNFI) = 0.91, robust comparative fit index (R-CFI) = 0.92, root mean square residual (RMSR) = 0.04, and SB-x2/df = 1.79)
We have developed a Chinese Preschoolers’ Eating Behavior Questionnaire, which consisted of 38 items and 7 dimensions: food fussiness, food responsiveness, eating habit, satiety responsiveness, exogenous eating, emotional eating and initiative eating
Summary
The objective of this study was to develop a questionnaire for caregivers to assess the eating behavior of Chinese preschoolers. World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that the obesity and overweight are important health problems and serious public health challenges in today’s world. The prevalence rate of childhood overweight or obesity has been estimated at 20–40% in European countries [1]. In China, the prevalence of obesity and overweight among children aged 0–6 years in 2006 were 7.2% and 19.8%, respectively, with 8.9% and 22.2% for boys, 5.3% and 17.0% for girls. Compared with 1996, the prevalence of obesity and overweight were increased for 3.6 times and 4.7 times respectively [3]. Being obese or overweight in childhood and adolescence has significant effects on the mortalities and morbidities of some diseases later in adulthood. Many metabolic and cardiovascular diseases and some cancers were associated with childhood obesity and overweight [4]
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