Development and Validation of the Mindful Eating Questionnaire

Abstract

Abstract"Mindful eating" describes a non-judgmental awareness of physical and emotional sensations associated with eating. This manuscript reports the development of a mindful eating questionnaire (MEQ) to support rigorous scientific inquiry into this concept. An item pool was developed based on hypothesized domains of mindful eating. A cross-sectional survey examined associations of MEQ scores with demographic and health-related characteristics. The MEQ was distributed to seven convenience samples between January-May, 2007, with an overall response rate of 62% (n=303). Participants were mostly female (81%) and white (90%), and had a mean age of 42±14.4 years (range 18-80 years). Exploratory factor analysis was used to identify factors, which were defined as the mean of items scored 1 to 4, where 4 indicated higher mindfulness; the mean of all factors was the summary MEQ score. Multiple regression analysis was used to measure associations of demographic characteristics, obesity, yoga practice and physical activity with MEQ scores. Domains of the final 28-item questionnaire were: Disinhibition, Awareness, External Cues, Emotional Response, and Distraction. The mean MEQ score was 2.92 ± 0.37, with a reliability (Chronbach's alpha) of 0.64. The covariate-adjusted MEQ score was inversely associated with BMI (3.02 for BMI <25 vs. 2.54 for BMI >30, p <0.001). Yoga practice, but neither walking nor moderate/intense physical activity, was associated with higher MEQ score. In this study sample, the MEQ had good measurement characteristics. Its negative association with BMI and positive association with yoga provide evidence of construct validity. Further evaluation in more diverse populations is warranted.

Review Article Relationships between intuitive eating and health indicators: literature review

“…Gast and Hawks (16) claim Mindful Eating comprises part of Intuitive Eating, incorporating two of the four factors of Intuitive Eating (intrinsic eating and antidieting). Framson et al (32) , in contrast, argue that Mindful Eating includes all of the components of Intuitive Eating, but adds 'the non judgmental awareness of physical and emotional sensations while eating or in a food-related environment'. Matheiu (18) asserts that Mindful Eating and Intuitive Eating share similar principles but the former also includes meditation.…”

Comparison of Mindful and Slow Eating Strategies on Acute Energy Intake

“…Additionally, after the second meal session (visit 3), all participants also completed the awareness and distraction subscales of the Mindful Eating Questionnaire (MEQ) (129). This questionnaire was not given after the first meal test session due to the possibility of a carryover effect.…”

“…In order to measure adherence to the mindful eating test meal session and to examine if general awareness increased across groups, all participants (EAT, MIND, and SLOW) completed the awareness and distraction subscales of the Mindful Eating Questionnaire (MEQ) (129) (APPENDIX I). Participants in the MIND condition were considered adherent if their mean MEQ score was ≥ 2.5, indicating that adherence during the test meal session was more often than "sometimes".…”

Examining women's perceptions of their mother's and romantic partner's interpersonal styles for a better understanding of their eating regulation and intuitive eating

“…The fundamental principles of intuitive eating are to eat in response to hunger and cease when satiated, and to be mindful of emotions and pleasures associated with eating (Tribole & Resch, 1995). Related to intuitive eating is the practice of mindful eating, which is defined as a "nonjudgmental awareness of physical and emotional sensations while eating or in a food-related environment" (Framson et al, 2009(Framson et al, , p. 1439. Both mindful eating and intuitive eating aim at the rejection of the diet mentality, but according to Tribole and Resch (2012), intuitive eating depicts a broader philosophy, including physical activity and body respect in addition to eating behaviors.…”