Jellison, Savanna Elizabeth Jean Westrom2022-06-072022-06-072021https://hdl.handle.net/10365/32690There is currently no universal definition for picky eating. Picky eating is also currently viewed as a binary decision. The purpose of the current study was to develop a spectrum of picky eating. The researchers used a why instead of what approach to identifying 23 picky eating categories and themes among individuals. Exploratory Factor Analysis was utilized on pilot data (N = 412) and items loaded on three factors. The first factor consisted of 7 items (α = .76) and accounted for 24.56% of the variance in the data. Factor two consisted of 10 items (α = .79) accounting for 9.87% of variance and factor three consisted of 5 items (α = .66) and accounted for 6.85% of the variance. Our results indicate that the picky eating spectrum identifies various behaviors of picky eating that could lead to targeted interventions and potentially reduce parental frustration and picky eating.NDSU policy 190.6.2https://www.ndsu.edu/fileadmin/policy/190.pdfThesis