Psychometric properties of the Children's Eating Behavior Questionnaire in Mexican children under 3 years of age

Abstract

Objective: Mexico is one of the countries with the highest prevalence of
childhood obesity worldwide. Valid comprehensive assessment instruments
are required to address the problem. The Child Eating Behavior Questionnaire
(CEBQ) allows the assessment of children's eating behaviors related to obesity
risk, so the following objective was to evaluate the psychometric properties of
the original version of the CEBQ in Mexican children aged 1 to 3 years.
Material and Methods: 201 mothers residing in northeastern Mexico
completed the CEBQ in community health centers. A confirmatory factor
analysis (CFA) was performed through principal components and reliability
(internal consistency) with Cronbach's alpha (α).
Results: A model with seven factors and 24 items was identified, the goodnessof-
fit indices of the proposed model were adequate: comparative fit index (CFI=
0.90), and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA= 0.06). The factors
that make up the CEBQ have acceptable internal reliability α > 0.70.
Conclusion: The CEBQ in Mexican children aged 1 to 3 years has psychometric
properties that make it a reliable and valid measure to assess eating behaviors
related to obesity risk. It is recommended to contrast this model in similar
populations.
Keywords: Childhood obesity; feeding behavior; Infant; Child, Preschool