How french subjects describe well-being from food and eating habits? Development, and scoring definition of the well-being related to food questionnaire (Well-Bfq)

Objectives To develop and validate an instrument assessing well-being associated with food and eating habits in a general healthy population, suitable for future food allegation support. Providing well-being and maintaining good health are two main objectives subjects seek from their diet. To date validated questionnaires measuring well-being in the specific context of food in general population do not exist. Methods Thorough standardized methodology was followed. Qualitative data from 24 discussion groups conducted with healthy subjects (n=102) and subjects with digestive, joint or immunity complaints (n=96) served to develop the core of the Well-Being related to Food Questionnaire (Well-BFQ). Preliminary validation was conducted with 444 subjects with balanced diet (n=81), non-balanced diet (n=65), or standard diet (n=298). Principal component analyses (PCA) and exploratory factor analyses were performed sequentially to reduce the number of items and determine the questionnaire structure. Confirmatory factor analyses with multi-trait analyses were carried out to confirm its structure. Results The validated structure of the Well-BFQ has a modular backbone composed of “Grocery shopping”, “Cooking”, “Dining places”, “Commensality”, “Eating and drinking” and “Eating habits and health”. Each module is measured in terms of food behaviour and benefits: immediate, (Pleasure, Security, and Relaxation); direct and short term (Digestion and Satiety, Energy and Psychology); deferred (Metabolism, Mood and energy, Ageing, Bowel movement, Immunity and Mobility). PCA defined 33 interpretable subscales and 15 single items. Internal consistency reliability of dimensions was very good (Cronbach’s alpha: 0.75-0.95). Item convergent validity and divergent validity were moderate to excellent. Conclusions The Well-BFQ is unique to assess the full picture of well-being related to food and eating habits in terms of immediate, direct and short and deferred benefits in general population. Its modular structure allows interdisciplinary users to address their specific research (including experimental, cross-cultural comparison studies) needs by selecting the module(s) relevant to their objectives