Validity and Reliability of Children's Eating Behavior Questionnaire

There is an urgent need to identify and apply a diagnostic tool that can assess children’s eating behaviors. This study aimed to assess the validity and reliability of the Persian version of Children’s Eating Behavior Questionnaire (CEBQ) in 1-6 year-old children in Shiraz.
The study participants included 350 children (280 girls and 270 boys) selected through convenience sampling. CEBQ was completed by the children’s mothers. Then, the reliability of the questionnaire was assessed using test-retest and Cronbach’s alpha methods. Its validity was also evaluated using exploratory factor analysis.
The reliability of the questionnaire was assessed using test-retest method with a 2-week interval. Accordingly, test-retest and Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were 0.71 and 0.74, respectively. Additionally, the results of factor analysis revealed 6 subscales, namely desire to feed, desire to drink, emotional under-eating, emotional over-eating, slowness in eating, and variety seeking, which explained 53% of the variance.
The study results showed that CEBQ had appropriate psychometric properties for assessment of nutritional behaviors among 1-6 year-old children. Therefore, this instrument is recommended to be used in laboratory and clinical researches.