No study has examined a comprehensive set of approach and avoidance eating behaviours and their relationship with bodyweight among North American children. The purpose of this study was to test whether a variety of individual eating behaviours differed among weight status groups in a sample of Canadian pre-school children.
The sample included 4 and 5-year-old children (N=1 730), who attended a health center in and around Edmonton, Alberta, for a pre-school immunization shot between November 2005 and August 2007. A trained health assistant measured children's height and weight. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cut-off criteria were used to classify the children according to body weight status. Parents completed the Children's Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (CEBQ). A one-way between-groups multivariate analysis of variance was performed to investigate eating behaviour differences by weight status groups while adjusting for sex and neighbourhood socioeconomic status (SES).