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Table 2 Factor loadings of the factor analysis (Principal Components analysis with Variamax normalized rotation) with all 35 items of CEBQ.

From: Obesity related eating behaviour patterns in Swedish preschool children and association with age, gender, relative weight and parental weight - factorial validation of the Children's Eating Behaviour Questionnaire

Scale name and items Loading Scale name and items Loading
Food fussiness FF (Factor 1; 12.4% variance)   Desire to drink DD (Factor 5; 7.5% variance)  
My child refuses new food at first 0.85 My child is always asking for a drink 0.77
My child enjoys tasting new foods 0.86 If given the chance, my child would drink continuously throughout the day 0.81
My child enjoys a wide range of foods 0.65 If given the chance, my child would always be having a drink 0.83
My child is difficult to please with meals 0.57   
My child is interested in tasting food s/he hasn't tasted before 0.87 Satiety responsiveness SR (Factor 8; 6.9% variance)  
My child decides that s/he doesn't like a food, even without tasting it 0.77 My child has a big appetite e) 0.32
   My child leaves food on his/her plate at the end of a meal 0.65
Emotional overeating/Food responsiveness EOE/FR (Factor 2; 9.2% variance) a)   My child gets full before his/her meal is finished 0.76
My child eats more when worried (EOE) 0.72 My child gets full up easily 0.62
My child eats more when annoyed (EOE) 0.73 My child cannot eat a meal if s/he has had a snack just before 0.60
My child eats more when anxious (EOE) 0.49   
My child eats more when s/he has nothing else to do (EOE) 0.75 Slowness in eating SE (Factor 6; 6.1% variance)  
My child is always asking for food (FR)b) 0.41 My child finishes his/her meal quickly 0.80
If allowed to, my child would eat too much (FR) 0.67 My child eats slowly 0.86
Given the choice, my child would eat most of the time (FR)c) 0.54 My child takes more than 30 minutes to finish a meal 0.59
If given the chance, my child would always have food in his/her mouth (FR)d) 0.48 My child eats more and more slowly during the course of a meal f) 0.30
Even if my child is full up s/he finds room to eat his/her favourite food (FR) g) 0.03   
   Food responsiveness FR (Factor 7; 5.0% variance) g)  
Emotional under-eating EUE (Factor 3; 8.1% variance)   Even if my child is full up s/he finds room to eat his/her favourite food g) 0.63
My child eats less when angry 0.87 My child is always asking for food b) 0.18
My child eats less when s/he is tired 0.72 If allowed to, my child would eat too much 0.33
My child eats more when s/he is happy 0.68 Given the choice, my child would eat most of the time c) 0.43
My child eats less when upset 0.87 If given the chance, my child would always have food in his/her mouth d) 0.51
Enjoyment of food EF (Factor 4; 11.0% variance)    
My child loves food 0.73   
My child has a big appetite (SR)e) 0.62   
My child is interested in food 0.70   
My child looks forward to mealtimes 0.81   
My child enjoys eating 0.81   
  1. a) All items of the original EOE scale and 4 of 5 items of the original FR scale loaded onto the same factor; thus these were combined into one scale.
  2. b) The item 'My child is always asking for food' (FR) loaded most highly on the DD scale (0.45), but also loaded onto the EOE/FR scale with a loading with the same magnitude (0.41). Retained on the EOE/FR scale on theoretical basis.
  3. c) The item 'Given the choice, my child would eat most of the time' (FR) loaded most highly on the EOE/FR scale (0.54), but also loaded onto the FR scale with a loading with the same magnitude (0.43). Retained on the EOE/FR scale optimizing the internal reliability (Cronbach's alpha) for the EOE/FR scale.
  4. d) The item 'If given the chance, my child would always have food in his/her mouth' (FR) loaded most highly on the FR scale (0.51), but also loaded onto the EOE/FR scale with a loading above of the same magnitude (0.48). Retained on the EOE/FR scale, optimizing the internal reliability (Cronbach's alpha) for the EOE/FR scale.
  5. e) The item 'My child has a big appetite' originally belonged to SR but loaded most highly onto the EF scale, and was therefore retained on the EF scale. In the table this item is additionally reported under the SR scale to compare with the original structure.
  6. f) The item 'My child eats more and more slowly during the course of a meal' (SE) had a loading below 0.4 and was not included in further analyses.
  7. g) One FR item loaded clearly onto a separate factor; however this factor and item was disregarded since the combined EOE/FR scales was created. The contribution of this factor was not included in the total variance reported. In the table this item is additionally reported under the EOE/FR scale to compare with the original structure.
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International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity

ISSN: 1479-5868

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