The Turkish Version of Intuitive Eating Scale-3 Adapted for Pregnant Women: Validity and Reliability Study

Abstract Purpose Pregnancy can affect maternal-fetal nutritional outcomes by altering eating patterns owing to physiological and psychosocial changes. Intuitive eating, which focuses on sensitivity to internal hunger and satiety cues, offers a theoretical and measurable framework for evaluating nutritional self-regulation during pregnancy. The aim of this study is to validate the Intuitive Eating Scale 3 (IES-3) in pregnant Turkish women. Methods This methodological study was carried out in Türkiye between January and March 2025 with the participation of 123 pregnant women. The translation process for IES-3 was carried out using a forward-backward translation, and its comprehensibility was examined based on expert evaluations. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used to determine and confirm the factorial structure of IES-3. Model fit was evaluated using CFI, TLI, RMSEA, and SRMR. Internal consistency was assessed using the Cronbach's alpha coefficient and test-retest reliability were re-evaluated after 3 weeks. Results The mean age of the pregnant women was 29.2 ± 4.22 years. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) sample adequacy was 0.69, and Bartlett's sphericity test was statistically significant (p < 0.001). The results showed that the scale has a four-factor structure explaining 66.0% of the total variance. CFA showed that the four-factor structure of IES-3 provided a good fit in pregnant women (AGFI = 0.88, GFI = 0.92, TLI = 0.95, and RMSEA = 0.06). The Cronbach's alpha coefficients was 0.70 for the total scale and 0.75–0.84 for the sub-dimensions. Conclusions The findings indicate that the IES-3 is a valid and reliable measurement tool for assessing intuitive eating behavior among Turkish pregnant women.