Oxford Food and Activity Behaviors 20-item questionnaire to assess personal weight management strategies: Development and testing.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to develop a shortened Oxford Food and Activity Behaviors (OxFAB) questionnaire to identify the cognitive and behavioral strategies used by individuals during weight-management attempts.

METHODS

This study reduced an existing 117-item questionnaire (the original OxFAB questionnaire) through identifying clusters of techniques from the responses of 278 people living with obesity and, within those clusters, identifying the most representative question or questions. Questions were rephrased to cover multiple strategies at the domain level, with several alternative phrasings developed for new questions. Face validity was tested through think-aloud interviews with 12 people living with obesity. Questions were rephrased accordingly and tested using test-retest (n = 172). Prevalence- and bias-adjusted κ (PABAK) were calculated, and questions with PABAK < 0.41 were rewritten and evaluated in a new test-retest sample (n = 130).

RESULTS

OxFAB20 consists of 20 questions covering diet, physical activity, and cognitive strategies for weight management. Test-retest resulted in a mean PABAK score of 0.56 (SD = 0.14). Questions were revised where appropriate. The questionnaire is available for use via a CC-BY license.

CONCLUSIONS

The OxFAB20 questionnaire provides a practical tool for researchers to identify the cognitive and behavioral strategies used by individuals during attempts at weight control.