Development of the Child Mealtime Feeding Behavior Questionnaire

Abstract

It has been suggested that parents' feeding behaviors are associated with the eating behaviors of their children. The objective of this study was to develop the Child Mealtime Feeding Behavior Questionnaire (CMFBQ) to assess the strategies used by mothers in response to picky eating by their children at meals. The participants, 834 mothers of 3- to 6-year-old children attending kindergartens and nursery schools in Tokyo and Fukui, Japan, completed the self-administered questionnaires. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of data obtained from these participants produced an 18-item scale with 4 subscales: "behavioral strategy," "passive coercion," "punishment and reward," and "permission." The internal consistency (Cronbach's α) of these subscales ranged from.65 to.82. Maternal punishment and reward and maternal permission were positively associated with children's picky eating; however, other behavioral strategies, including passive coercion, were not significantly related to children's picky eating. The CMFBQ can assess the strategies used by mothers to encourage their children to eat meals. Researchers and health practitioners can use this measure to better understand how mothers motivate their children to eat meals and to consider the implications of these practices for children's eating behaviors without placing an undue burden on respondents. © 2012 The Author(s).