Exercise as a license to eat? The Eating Styles of Exercisers Scale (ESES)

Abstract

Background: When people begin exercise programs they often report gaining weight instead of losing it. One of the possible explanation is that exercise may act as a license to eat. The aim of study was to develop a scale that measures people’s self-reported tendency to reward themselves with foods for exercising. Methods: The data for the study come from a mail survey conducted in the German-speaking part of Switzerland (N=368). Responses to the 42 items were subjected to a factor analysis (principal axis factoring method with promax oblique rotation). Cronbach’s alpha was calculated to determine the internal consistency of the scale. Findings: The factor analysis identified four different subscales. Internal consistency for the four different scales was acceptable/good (Cronbach’s alpha between .76 and .84). The first subscale measured exercisers’ self-reported food reward behavior and was positively associated with BMI. Discussion: The food reward behavior subscale of this newly developed Eating Styles of Exercisers Scale (ESES) demonstrated good psychometric properties and could be used as an effective screening tool in exercise intervention programs for weight loss.