The construct validity and the test-retest reliability of a self-administered questionnaire about habitual physical activity were investigated in young males (n = 139) and females (n = 167) in three age groups (20 to 22, 25 to 27, and 30 to 32 yr) in a Dutch population. By principal components analysis three conceptually meaningful factors were distinguished. They were interpreted as: 1) physical activity at work; 2) sport during leisure time; and 3) physical activity during leisure time excluding sport. Test-retest showed that the reliability of the three indices constructed from these factors was adequate. Further, it was found that level of education was inversely related to the work index, and positively related to the leisure-time index in both sexes. The subjective experience of work load was not related to the work index, but was inversely related to the sport index, and the leisure-time index in both sexes. The lean body mass was positively related the the work index, and the sport index in males, but was not related to the leisure-time index in either sex. These differences in the relationships support the subdivision of habitual physical activity into the three components mentioned above.

The development of the Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (DEBQ) with scales for restrained, emotional, and external eating is described. Factor analyses have shown that all items on restrained and external eating each have high loadings on one factor, but items on emotional eating have two dimensions, one dealing with eating in response to diffuse emotions, and the other with eating in response to clearly labelled emotions. The pattern of corrected item‐total correlation coefficients and of the factors was very similar for various subsamples, which indicates a high degree of stability of dimensions on the eating behavior scales. The norms and Cronbach's alpha coefficients of the scales and also the Pearson's correlation coefficients to assess interrelationships between scales indicate that the scales have a high internal consistency and factorial validity. However, their external validity has yet to be investigated.

The present study aims to determine the predictive validity of the 10‐item Dutch Restrained Eating Scale. The ultimate criterion of restrained eating is the degree to which an individual eats less than he or she actually would like to eat. Since a study on both actual food consumption and restriction of food intake is very complicated, if not impossible, the difference between actual and desired intake of energy was studied indirectly, that is, from estimates of deviations from the required energy intake. The relationships were studied between restrained eating scores and the magnitude of the deviation from energy requirement, and between restrained eating scores and intake of fat and sugar, because restriction in intake of these may also reflect dietary restraint. About 20% of the variance of scores on the Restrained Eating Scale could be explained from these measures of food intake, which suggests that the Dutch Restrained Eating Scale has moderate to good predictive validity.

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