Measurement of external food cue responsiveness in preschool-age children: Preliminary evidence for the use of the external food cue responsiveness scale.
Travis D Masterson, Diane Gilbert-Diamond, Reina K Lansigan, Sunny Jung Kim, Jenna E Schiffelbein, Jennifer A Emond
Author Information
Travis D Masterson: Department of Epidemiology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA; Norris Cotton Cancer Center, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA. Electronic address: Travis.D.Masterson@dartmouth.edu.
Diane Gilbert-Diamond: Department of Epidemiology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA; Norris Cotton Cancer Center, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA.
Reina K Lansigan: Department of Epidemiology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA.
Sunny Jung Kim: Department of Health Behavior and Policy, VCU Massey Cancer Center, School of Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA.
Jenna E Schiffelbein: Norris Cotton Cancer Center, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA.
Jennifer A Emond: Norris Cotton Cancer Center, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA; Department of Biomedical Data Sciences, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA.
BACKGROUND: Conditioned eating in response to external food cues may contribute to obesity risk in young children. OBJECTIVES: To develop a brief, parent-reported scale to measure external food cue responsiveness for preschool-age children. METHODS: Focus groups with parents of preschool-age children were conducted to create an initial pool of items reflecting children's behavioral responses to external food cues. Items were included in a nationally-distributed online survey of parents of preschool-age children (n = 456). Factor analysis was used to reduce the initial item pool, the scale's psychometric properties were assessed, and scores were correlated with reported snacking behaviors. RESULTS: Nine items met inclusion criteria in the final scale, which had high internal consistency (alpha = 0.86). Final scores were the mean across the nine items. External food cue responsiveness was greater among children with, versus without, usual TV advertisement exposure. Furthermore, greater external food cue responsiveness mediated the relationship between children's usual TV advertisement exposure and snacking during TV viewing. Findings remained statistically significant when adjusted for food responsiveness as measured with the Child Eating Behavior Questionnaire. CONCLUSIONS: Findings provide preliminary evidence that external food cue responsiveness is measurable by parental report in preschool-age children.
