Obesity Abstracts

Background: To better understand the role that food reward and eating behavior have on obesity and lifestyle management strategies, reliable and valid measurement tools are needed to quantify modern day eating behaviours and food preferences. This study aims to determine the test-retest reliability of the Leeds Food Preference Questionnaire (LFPQ) in a South African population. The validity of the tool was assessed by investigations of its associations with other eating behavior outcomes such as the three-factor eating questionnaire and the emotional eating questionnaire.

Methods: Twenty healthy participants took part in the study. They had a mean age of 35.5±13.3 years and a body mass index of 28.6±7.0 kg/m². Prior to visiting the laboratory participants completed questionnaires pertaining to their well-being, including the emotional eater questionnaire (EEQ), the eating disorder examination questionnaire (EDE-Q), and the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ). Participants visited the laboratory on two occasions, seven days apart, to undergo LFPQ and the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ). Results of these questionnaires were analysed for test-retest reliability and associations between their outcome. measures.

Results: Intraclass correlation coefficients (0.72–0.93) of the LFPQ demonstrated good to excellent reliability. The Bland-Altman plots showed very small bias on average and the effect sizes revealed diminutive effects <0.2 for the majority of outcomes.

Conclusions: Thorough analysis of the test re-test reliability and validity of the LFPQ has demonstrated its usefulness for Clinicians and Researchers to use as a tool to distinguish between and quantify different components of food reward. The use of this tool will enable researchers to gain more in-depth detail of food reward behaviour and better assist individuals who are seeking eating behaviour interventions for obesity and lifestyle behaviour management.

Keywords: Eating behaviour, food reward, obesity management, obesity