Questionnaire on Your Eating Behavior
This questionnaire explores three components of eating behavior: cognitive restraint, responsiveness to external food cues, and emotional eating.
The Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (DEBQ), referenced in the book Optimize Your Health (ed. Hardie Grant), assesses three components of eating behavior: cognitive restraint, responsiveness to external stimuli, and emotional eating.
Take the test
DUTCH EATING BEHAVIOUR QUESTIONNAIRE (DEBQ)
Questionnaire on Your Eating Behaviour
This questionnaire assesses three dimensions of eating behaviour:
Emotional Eating (eating in response to emotions)
External Eating (eating in response to food-related stimuli)
Cognitive Restraint (intentional restriction of food intake to control weight)
Instructions
Please indicate how often each statement applies to you.
Response scale:
1 = Never
2 = Rarely
3 = Sometimes
4 = Often
5 = Very often
0 = Not applicable
Do you feel like eating when you are irritated?
Do you feel like eating when you are depressed or discouraged?
Do you feel like eating when you feel lonely?
Do you feel like eating when you feel abandoned?
Do you feel like eating when you are angry?
Do you feel like eating when something unpleasant is going to happen?
Do you feel like eating when you are worried, tense, or anxious?
Do you feel like eating when something upsets you or does not go as you would like?
Do you feel like eating when you are annoyed?
Do you feel like eating when you are bored or restless?
Do you feel like eating when you are anxious?
Do you feel like eating when you are disappointed?
If food tastes good, do you eat more than usual?
If food looks or smells delicious, do you eat more than usual?
If you see or smell something delicious, do you feel like eating it?
If something delicious is available, do you eat it immediately?
When walking past a bakery, do you feel like buying something tasty?
When you see other people eating, do you also feel like eating?
Do you eat more than usual when you see others eating?
If you walk past a snack bar or café, do you feel like going in to get something tasty?
When preparing a meal, do you tend to nibble on something?
When you have gained some weight, do you eat less than usual?
Do you refuse food or drinks offered to you because you are watching your weight?
At mealtimes, do you try to eat less than you would like to eat?
Do you monitor exactly what you eat?
Do you deliberately choose low-calorie foods?
When you have eaten too much, do you eat less than usual the next day?
Can you resist delicious foods?
(Scoring is reversed for this item) 5 = Never ; 4 = Rarely ; 3 = Sometimes ; 2 = Often ; 1 = Very often ; 0 = Not applicableDo you deliberately eat less in order not to gain weight?
Do you try not to eat between meals because you are watching your weight?
In the evening, do you try not to eat because you are watching your weight?
When eating, do you take your weight into account?
Scoring
Assign points to each questions
Subscale
Emotional Eating (EE): questions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
External Eating (ExE): questions 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21
Cognitive Restraint (CR): questions 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28*, 29, 30, 31, 32
*Item 28 (“Can you resist delicious foods?”) is reverse scored.
Calculate subscale scores
Sum the responses for each subscale
Ignore items marked as 0 (Not applicable).
Divide the sum by the number of items answered to get the average score for each subscale (range 1–5).
Example:
Emotional Eating: Sum of 12 items = 36 → Average = 36 ÷ 12 = 3.0
INTERPRETATION GUIDE
Emotional Eating (EE)
Low (1.0–2.0): Rarely eats in response to emotions.
Moderate (2.1–3.5): Occasional emotional eating; may benefit from awareness strategies.
High (3.6–5.0): Frequent emotional eating; consider interventions for stress/emotion management, mindfulness, or CBT-based strategies.
External Eating (ExE)
Low (1.0–2.0): Rarely influenced by sight/smell of food.
Moderate (2.1–3.5): Some sensitivity to external cues; can use planning and structured eating.
High (3.6–5.0): Strong response to external food cues; may benefit from environmental control, mindful eating, and portion strategies.
Cognitive Restraint (CR)
Low (1.0–2.0): Little intentional control over food intake.
Moderate (2.1–3.5): Some dietary restraint; may balance flexibility and structure.
High (3.6–5.0): Strong dietary control; monitor for risk of excessive restriction or counterproductive cycles.
Interpretation notes:
High Emotional Eating + High Cognitive Restraint = risk for disinhibition under stress.
High External Eating may indicate susceptibility to overeating in food-rich environments.
Subscale profiles help tailor behavioral or nutritional interventions.
Feel free to share those results with your GP !
Description
The Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ) is a 33-item, self-report tool designed to assess three specific eating styles: emotional, external, and restrained eating. It helps identify habits contributing to weight management issues by measuring how individuals respond to emotions, environmental food cues, and conscious restriction.
Take the Test (Sample Items & Structure)
The DEBQ uses a 5-point Likert scale (1=Never, 5=Very Often) to measure, for instance, how often you eat more when stressed or when food looks good.
Restrained Eating (10 items): Focuses on limiting food intake. Example: Do you try to eat less of the foods you like to avoid gaining weight?
Emotional Eating (13 items): Relates eating to emotions. Example: Do you have a desire to eat when you are depressed or discouraged?
External Eating (10 items): Relates eating to environmental cues. Example: Do you have a desire to eat when you see food or smell food?
Interpretation
High Restraint: Often indicates chronic dieting or, paradoxically, susceptibility to overeating when willpower fails.
High Emotional/External: Strongly linked to higher weight, as food is used for comfort or in response to triggers rather than hunger.
Brunault et al., 2015 ; Lluch et al., 1996