Problem eating attitudes and behaviors in young children

Abstract

Objective The factor structure of the Children's Eating Attitudes Test (ChEAT) and the predictors of problem eating were examined in young boys and girls. Methods Two hundred and twenty eight children from Grades 2 and 4 completed questionnaires which examined problem eating attitudes and behaviors, body image, and self‐concepts. Results Four factors were found for girls and boys. The girls' four factors, Dieting, Food Preoccupation, Social Pressure to Eat, and Restricting and Purging, corresponded closely to previous studies with older girls and women. Four different factors were found for the boys, Global Problems, Dieting versus Purging, Dieting and Food Preoccupation, and Emotional Eating. However, dieting behaviors in both girls and boys were predicted by poorer body image and in boys emotional concerns about eating were predicted by poorer body image and lower self‐concepts. Discussion There is still relatively little research that has examined problem eating attitudes and behaviors of boys and men. As boys tend to report infrequent dieting, we may need to focus more on the emotional concerns about eating and becoming overweight as a potential indicator of eating problems in boys. © 1999 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 25: 281–286, 1999.

The Relationship between Self-esteem, Body Image and Eating Attitudes of Children Accessing Community Child Centers

“…Therefore, body image is viewed by some researchers as a reflection of one's general self-worth. Also, Body image concerns among girls and boys have been found to be related to eating attitudes and behaviors as assessed by the Children's Eating Attitude Test (ChEAT) [31]. Similarly, for both girls and boys, body image concerns are also related to other measures of dieting cognitions and behaviors [32].…”

Weight status and psychosocial factors predict the emergence of dieting in preadolescent girls

“…Based on previous research (Kelly et al, 1999;Smolak & Levine, 1994), confirmatory factor analysis of the chEAT, a three-factor solution was confirmed in the data at age 9: emergence of dieting, food preoccupation, and social pressure to eat. Items loaded on only one factor and all loadings were above .3 (Table 2).…”

“…Confirmatory Factor Analysis-To determine whether the three-factor structure previously reported for the chEAT (Kelly, Ricciardelli, & Clarke, 1999;Smolak & Levine, 1994), including dieting, food preoccupation, and social pressure, could be confirmed in our data set, confirmatory factor analysis was performed on data from the ChEAT, obtained when girls were 9 years old. Only items loading above .30 and only those items loading on a single factor were included in the final model.…”

Structure analysis of the Children's Eating Attitudes Test in overweight and at-risk for overweight children and adolescents

“…All 26 ChEAT items were subjected to a principal component analysis with a varimax rotation. We used a factor loading cutoff of .4, consistent with previous studies' use of .3 and .4 as factor loading cutoffs (Kelly, Ricciardelli, & Clarke, 1999;Sancho, Asorey, Arija, & Canals, 2005;Smolak & Levine, 1994). In addition, a loading cutoff of .4 generated clear subscale themes.…”

“…A Catalan adapted version of the ChEAT in a Spanish sample of 1336 fifth and sixth grade boys and girls also reported four factors which, taken together, explained 49.4% of variance (Sancho, Asorey, Arija, & Canals, 2005). In a third study, separate subscales were determined for boys and girls in 228 second through fourth graders (Kelly, Ricciardelli, & Clarke, 1999). Results of a later factor analysis among 225 fifth through eighth grade girls generally supported Kelly's findings for girls (Ambrosi-Randic & Pokrajac-Bulian, 2005).…”