Table of Contents
Instructions:
This is a screening measure to help you determine whether you might have an eating disorder. Please respond as accurately, honestly and completely as possible. There are no right or wrong answers. All of your responses are confidential.
| Always | Usually | Often | Sometimes | Rarely | Never | ||
| Am terrified about being overweight. | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Avoid eating when I am hungry. | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Find myself preoccupied with food. | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Have gone on eating binges where I felt that I may not be able to stop. | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Cut my food into small pieces. | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Aware of the calorie content of foods that I eat. | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Particularly avoid food with a high | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| carbohydrates content (i.e. bread, rice, | |||||||
| potatoes, etc.) | |||||||
| Feel that others would prefer if I ate more. | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Vomit after I have eaten. | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Feel extremely guilty after eating. | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Am preoccupied with a desire to be thinner. | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Think about burning up calories when I exercise. | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Other people think that I am too thin. | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Am preoccupied with the thought of having fat on my body. | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Take longer than others to eat my meals. | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Avoid foods with sugar in them. | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Always | Usually | Often | Sometimes | Rarely | Never | ||
| Eat diet foods. | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Feel that food controls my life. | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Display self-control around food. | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Feel that others pressure me to eat. | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Give too much time and thought to food. | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Feel uncomfortable eating sweets. | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Engage in dieting behaviour. | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Like my stomach to be empty. | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Have the impulse to vomit after meals. | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Enjoy trying new rich foods. | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Behavioural Questions
– In the past 6 months have you gone on eating binges where you feel that you may not be able to stop?* *Defined as eating much more than most people would under the same circumstances and feel that eating is out of control |
|||||||
| 0 | Never | ||||||
| 0 | Once a month or less | ||||||
| 1 | 2-3 times a month | ||||||
| 1 | Once a week | ||||||
| 1 | 2-6 times a week | ||||||
| 1 | Once a day or more | ||||||
| In the past 6 months have you ever made yourself sick (vomited) to control your weight or shape? Or ever used laxatives, diets pills or diuretics (water pills) to control your weight or shape? | |||||||
| 0 | Never | ||||||
| 1 | Once a month or less | ||||||
| 1 | 2-3 times a month | ||||||
| 1 | Once a week | ||||||
| 1 | 2-6 times a week | ||||||
| 1 | Once a day or more | ||||||
| In the past 6 months have you ever used laxatives or diet pills to control your weight or shape? | ||
| 0 | Never | |
| 1 | Once a month or less | |
| 1 | 2-3 times a month | |
| 1 | Once a week | |
| 1 | 2-6 times a week | |
| 1 | Once a day or more | |
| In the past 6 months have you exercised more than 60 minutes a day to lose or to control your weight? | ||
| 0 Never | ||
| 0 Once a month or less | ||
| 0 2-3 times a month | ||
| 0 Once a week | ||
| 1 2-6 times a week | ||
| Once a day or more | ||
| In the past 6 months have you lost 9 kgs (20 pounds) or more in the past 6 months? | ||
| 1 | Yes | |
| 0 | No | |
Description
The EAT-26 is used to identify the presence of “eating disorder risk” based on attitudes, feelings and behaviours related to eating. There are 26 items assessing general eating behaviour and five additional questions assessing risky behaviours. The measure can be used with adolescents and adults and with special risk samples such as athletes. The scale has three subscales: 1. Dieting 2. Bullimia and Food Preoccupation 3. Oral Control
Validity and Reliability
While developing the scale Garner et al. (1982) validated it with 160 females with anorexia nervous and compared the results to a sample of 140 healthy females. Thus, the EAT-26 is well-validated with female samples, with scores on the EAT-26 being highly predictive of scores on the original EAT-40. This measure demonstrates high internal consistency (Garner et al., 1982).
Interpretation
Results consist of a total score and three subscales scores: 1) Dieting, 2) Bulimia, 3) Food Preoccupation and Oral Control Higher scores indicating greater risk of an eating disorder and total scores 20 or above are considered to be in the clinical range. In addition to the raw scores the results are presented as a percentiles based on a healthy female sample (n = 140) and a sample of anorexia nervosa patients (n = 160: Garner et al., 1982). A percentile of about 50 is typical in comparison to the anorexia nervosa group for someone suffering from an eating disorder. The four behavioural questions (questions 27, 28, 29, 30 and 31) are not included in the calculation of the above scores, but are major risk factors important to the health of people with an eating disorder.
Developer
Garner, D. M., Olmsted, M. P., Bohr, Y., & Garfinkel, P. E. (1982). The eating attitudes test: Psychometric features and clinical correlates. Psychological Medicine, 12(4), 871-878. doi:10.1017/S0033291700049163.
Number Of Questions
31
References
Garner, D. M., Olmsted, M. P., Bohr, Y., & Garfinkel, P. E. (1982). The eating attitudes test: Psychometric features and clinical correlates. Psychological Medicine, 12(4), 871-878. doi:10.1017/S0033291700049163.
Developer Reference:
Garner, D. M., Olmsted, M. P., Bohr, Y., & Garfinkel, P. E. (1982). The eating attitudes test: Psychometric features and clinical correlates. Psychological Medicine, 12(4), 871-878. doi:10.1017/S0033291700049163.