Eating Competency: Questionnaire development in a low‐income postpartum population

Weight retention during the postpartum period is an important predictor for overweight/ obesity later on in life. Eating competency is defined as the capability to achieve a healthy weight. Factors that influence eating competency include knowledge, skills, attitudes, self‐efficacy, and the ability to restrain eating. A scale was developed to measure the eating competency of low‐income women in early postpartum. A pool of items was generated and reviewed by a panel of experts producing a content validity index of 0.91. Test‐retest reliability was conducted on two visits, with a strong association of scores at both time points ( r = 0.77, p< 0.001; ICC = 0.83.) Factor analysis resulted in six possible factors with eigen values >1. Cronbach's alpha for the remaining 20 items was 0.83. Total scale scores correlated with weight (p<0.01), BMI (p<0.01), body fat % (p<0.01), caloric intake (p<0.01), calories from fat (p<0.01), carbohydrate intake (p<0.05), total fat intake (p<0.01), and sugar intake (p < 0.01). Scores also correlated with nutrition knowledge (p<0.001) and physical activity self‐efficacy (p<0.01). This suggests that this scale is a reliable and valid measure of assessing eating competency in low‐income, postpartum women. Supported by TX Coordinating Board #UTA00‐377.