Design and validation of a questionnaire to assess eating behavior in students from a Peruvian university.

Introduction: Eating behavior is a key determinant of health and is associated with the development of non-communicable chronic diseases, particularly among university students. In Peru, the lack of validated instruments that comprehensively assess eating behavior in health sciences students limits the identification of risk patterns and the design of preventive interventions. Objective: To design and validate a questionnaire to measure eating behavior in health sciences university students from a private university in Lima, Peru. Materials and methods: An instrumental, cross-sectional psychometric validation study was conducted. The CECAU questionnaire was developed in three phases: preliminary (literature review and initial item construction), exploratory (content validity through expert judgment and pilot testing), and final (psychometric validation). The sample consisted of 523 health sciences students selected through non-probabilistic sampling. Construct validity was assessed using confirmatory factor analysis, Bartlett’s test of sphericity, and the Kaiser– Meyer–Olkin (KMO) index, while reliability was evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha. Results: The initial CECAU included 35 items; after confirmatory factor analysis, 11 items were removed, resulting in a final version of 24 items distributed across five factors. The matrix was factorable (KMO = 0.85; p < 0.01), and the model showed good fit indices (CFI = 0.94; TLI = 0.93; RMSEA = 0.055; SRMR = 0.058). Internal consistency was acceptable (α = 0.797). Conclusions: The CECAU demonstrates acceptable evidence of construct validity and internal reliability, making it a valid and reliable instrument for assessing eating behavior in Peruvian health sciences university students. Arch Latinoam Nutr 2026; 76(2): 118-127.