Research

Eating behaviour patterns in Chinese children aged 12-18 months and association with relative weight - factorial validation of the Children's Eating Behaviour Questionnaire

Ying-Ting Cao, Viktoria Svensson, Claude Marcus, Jing Zhang, Jian-Duan Zhang and Tanja Sobko

For all author emails, please log on.

International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 2012, 9:5 doi:10.1186/1479-5868-9-5

Published: 24 January 2012

Abstract (provisional)

Background

Eating behaviours have been suggested to relate with obesity development. Children's Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (CEBQ) is a parent-reported tool constructed to assess multiple dimensions of children's eating behavior. This study aimed to test the validity of the Chinese version of Children's Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (CEBQ) in children aged 12-18 months. We examined the factor structure and reliability of the Chinese version of CEBQ, as well as associations between children's eating behaviours and their weight (BMI SDS).

Methods

219 questionnaires were filled by the caregivers, approached in community health care centers in two cities in China. BMI of each child was calculated and converted to BMI SDS. Factor validation (Principal Component Analysis, exploratory factor analysis) was performed on all CEBQ items. We also examined the gender difference in eating behaviours. Correlations between eating behaviours and child's BMI SDS were analyzed by linear regression analysis controlling for gender, parental combined weight and education.

Results

The factor analysis revealed a seven-factor solution, with factor 'food responsiveness' (FR) split into two. 'Satiety responsiveness' (SR) and 'Enjoyment of food' (EF) factors were not detected. Interestingly, boys scored higher than girls in the FR scales, whereas girls had a higher score in 'food fussiness' (FF) scale.

Conclusions

We conclude that although a valuable psychometric instrument, CEBQ might be influenced by age and cultural differences. Therefore, we suggested adjustments in order to fit the Chinese population. We did not find any associations between eating behaviours and children's BMI SDS, when controlled for gender and parental weight.