The Picky Eating Questionnaire and Child-reported Food Preference Questionnaire: Pilot validation in Australian-Indian mothers and children 7-12 years old. (July 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Jani, Rati; Byrne, Rebecca; Saleh, M Abu; Love, Penelope; Hwa Ong, Shu; Yew Yang, Wai; Knight-Agarwal, Catherine R.; Mandalika, Subhadra; Panagiotakos, Demosthenes; Naumovski, Nenad; Mallan, Kimberley
• Is Part Of: Food quality and preference. Volume 99(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-07
• Subjects: PEQ The core food Picky Eating Questionnaire -- C-FPQ The Child-reported Food Preference Questionnaire -- FPQ The Food Preference Questionnaire -- CFA Confirmatory Factor Analysis -- EFA Exploratory Factor Analysis -- CMIN/DF Minimum Discrepancy per Degree of Freedom -- TLI Tucker-Lewis index -- CFI Comparative Fit Index -- SRMR Standardized Root Mean Square Residual -- RMSEA Root Mean Squared Error Approximation -- LO90 RMSEA lower end of the 90% confidence interval -- AVE Average Variance Extracted -- CR Composite Reliability -- b1 Slope of the mean bias -- CEBQ The Children's Eating Behaviour Questionnaire -- ICC Intra-class Correlation Coefficient -- WHO World Health Organization; Indian -- Picky -- Preference -- Children -- Questionnaire; Food preferences -- Periodicals; Food -- Quality -- Periodicals; Food industry and trade -- Quality control -- Periodicals; Préférences alimentaires -- Périodiques; Aliments -- Qualité -- Périodiques; Aliments -- Industrie et commerce -- Qualité -- Contrôle -- Périodiques; Food industry and trade -- Quality control; Food preferences; Food -- Quality; Periodicals; 664
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodqual.2022.104584
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0950-3293

Abstract

Highlights: Pilot validation of two questionnaires with Indian mothers and children. Similar constructs reported for both questionnaires across the core food groups. Child questionnaire also reported savory and sweet discretionary food constructs. All constructs observed acceptable reliability and validity testing. Maternal pickiness perceptions positively correlated with children's non-preference. Abstract: Limited literature has examined parents' perceptions of children's pickiness in relation to all the five core food groups (vegetables, legumes/beans; fruits; dairy and alternatives; meat and alternatives; cereals), which is representative of a nutritionally balanced diet and critical for optimal growth and development in children. This study aimed to develop and validate two questionnaires in Australian-Indian mothers and children 7–12 years (N = 482). The core food Picky Eating Questionnaire (PEQ), completed by mothers, identified maternal perceptions of their child's pickiness. The Child-reported Food Preference Questionnaire (C-FPQ) studied children's self-reported food preferences. The questionnaires comprised specific food items commonly available in Australia across the five core food groups (PEQ, N = 32; C-FPQ, N = 33) and discretionary foods (C-FPQ, N = 11). Exploratory Factor Analysis identified the initial factor structure, and Confirmatory Factor Analysis provided construct validity. The PEQ observed five constructs, and C-FPQ observed three constructs for food items perceived as picky/non-preferred-green leafy vegetables; other vegetables, pulses/legumes; fruits; wholegrain/wholemeal cereals (PEQ only) and dairy (PEQ only). The PEQ and C-FPQ observed four constructs for food items perceived as not picky/preferred-green vegetables; other vegetables; fruits and nuts, and dairy. C-FPQ also observed savoury and sweet discretionary food constructs. All constructs observed acceptable reliability (test–retest, internal consistency) and validity (convergent, relative, predictive) testing. Mean scores indicated that mothers' perceptions of pickiness were positively correlated with their children's report of non-preference. In conclusion, this study pilot validated two questionnaires to examine maternal perceptions of pickiness and children's self-reported food preferences among Australian-Indians, Australia's largest ethnic community.