Development and Validation of the General Dietary Behavior Inventory (GDBI) in Scope of International Nutrition Guidelines

Abstract

Unhealthy eating is associated with various diseases, such as cardiovascular, neurodegenerative, or oncological. There are neither economical nor behavior-related questionnaires available in the German language to assess general dietary behavior. Therefore, the aim of this validation study was to develop an instrument considering these aspects and verifying its construct and criterion validity. The new questionnaire is based on the general nutrition recommendations of the World Health Organization and the German Nutrition Society. It consists of 16 items that contrast dietary behaviors on a semantic differential scale. Our German-speaking convenience sample consisted of 428 participants. The construct validity of the General Dietary Behavior Inventory (GDBI) could be confirmed by examining convergent and discriminant validity. Furthermore, criterion validity was confirmed (significant negative correlations with body weight, Body Mass Index, and positive correlations with physical/mental health as well as life satisfaction). A cluster analysis revealed two different dietary behavior clusters representing a rather healthy and a rather unhealthy dietary behavior cluster. The results indicate that the GDBI is a validated and economical instrument to assess general dietary behavior. In practical research, this questionnaire helps to assess dietary behavior and to derive interventions for a healthy dietary behavior in concordance with international nutrition recommendations.

Validation of the English Version of the General Dietary Behavior Inventory (GDBI-E)

“…The “General Dietary Behavior Inventory” (GDBI) for the assessment of general dietary behavior has already been developed and validated for a German-speaking population [ 7 ]. This questionnaire is based on general nutrition recommendations of the WHO [ 16 , 17 ] and the DGE [ 18 , 19 , 20 ].…”

“…The items and the scoring are shown in Table S1 . The originally developed German GDBI items were presented in the validation study by Engelmann and colleagues [ 7 ]. The GDBI-E measures dietary behavior in terms of a formative approach.…”

“…The assessment of dietary behavior is conducted in different ways in clinical research that has been described by Engelmann and colleagues [ 7 ]. The types of assessment range from food frequency questionnaires, (e.g., [ 8 , 9 ]), over psychological assessments, (e.g., [ 10 , 11 ]), or assessments of disorder-specific eating behaviors (e.g., [ 12 , 13 ]), to questionnaires for the qualitative assessment of dietary behavior (e.g., [ 14 , 15 ]).…”

“…Thus, it is evident that these assessment tools do not capture concrete dietary behavior, which is shown in daily or ordinary life situations representing people’s dietary decisions. The development of the General Dietary Behavior Inventory (GDBI) [ 7 ] takes this into account by assessing relevant aspects of dietary behavior going beyond mere food or nutrient intake. It looks at people’s food choices in life situations, as well as food handling, such as preparation of a meal and the way that food is eaten.…”

Body Mass Index, Practice of Physical Activity and Lifestyle of Students During COVID-19 Lockdown

“…However, during COVID-19, it was obtained through telecommunication interviews. 36 A total list of 140 food items was included in the questionnaire with closed-ended questions, where consumption frequency choices were stated as the following: never or less than a month, once a week, two to four times per week, five to six times per week, once a day, two to three times per day, four to five times per day, more than 5 times per day. Open-ended questions were included in the questionnaire to collect information about unlisted food items.…”