The Association between Grazing and Food Addiction: The Italian Version of the Repetitive Eating Questionnaire (Rep(Eat)-Q) and Its Relationships with Food Addiction Criteria.
Nutrients
; 16(7)2024 Mar 26.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38612983
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Among the dysfunctional eating behaviors associated with excessive food intake, a construct that is gaining increasing attention is grazing-the constant, continuous, compulsive, and repetitive consumption of small/moderate amounts of food. Furthermore, in some cases, grazing seems to indicate a dependence on food and/or eating. Currently, the Repetitive Eating Questionnaire (Rep(Eat)-Q) appears to be the only questionnaire that comprehensively measures grazing, including its repetitive and compulsive eating component. Therefore, in a sample of individuals with severe obesity, the objective of this study was twofold (A) to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the Rep(Eat)-Q, and (B) to analyze the association between grazing and food addiction (FA).METHOD:
A cross-sectional research design was used. A total of 402 inpatients with severe obesity (BMI > 35) were recruited. Participants underwent a series of questionnaires to investigate structural validity and convergent validity and association with FA criteria.RESULTS:
The factorial structure of the Rep(Eat)-Q is robust and showed fit indexes CFI = 0.973; RMSEA = 0.074; 90%CI [0.056-0.091]; and SRMR = 0.029. Also, it exhibited good internal consistency and convergent validity. Furthermore, logistic regression analysis highlights a specific association between certain FA criteria and grazing.CONCLUSIONS:
The Rep(Eat)-Q can be considered to be a concise, robust, reliable, and statistically sound tool to assess repetitive eating, specifically grazing. Its strong psychometric properties offer significant advantages for both research and clinical applications. Furthermore, in a sample of individuals with severe obesity, the results suggest that individuals with problematic grazing exhibit a typical behavioral profile of subjects with FA, indicating that FA can manifest through problematic grazing as well.Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Obesidad Mórbida
/
Adicción a la Comida
País/Región como asunto:
Europa
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Nutrients
Año:
2024
Tipo del documento:
Article