Evidence for Independent Genetic Influences on Fat Mass and Body Mass Index in a Pediatric Twin Sample

Faith, Myles S.; Pietrobelli, Angelo; Nuñez, Carla Evelyn Coimbra; Heo, Moonseong; Heymsfield, Steven B.; Allison, David B.

doi:10.1542/peds.104.1.61

Cited by 94 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…These results are based on the meta-analysis of the nine existing twin studies. [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] Background information of these cohorts is presented in Appendix Table A1 and the estimates of variance components with 95% CI for each study in Appendix Table A2.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the case when studies reporting correlations in BMI have been presented several times in different papers, only one paper was included. On the basis of these criteria, we found nine twin studies [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] and five adoption studies; [22][23][24][25][26] however, no family studies reporting heritability estimates of childhood obesity were found. In addition, we found three twin studies that had pooled information on children at different ages.…”

Section: Search Strategymentioning

confidence: 99%

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The genetic and environmental influences on childhood obesity: a systematic review of twin and adoption studies

et al. 2009

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In this systematic review, we aimed to collect together all previous twin and adoption studies on childhood and adolescent obesity up to the age of 18 years. Using several sources, we identified nine twin and five adoption studies; all of these studies had used relative weight as an indicator of obesity. Except the two twin studies from the Korean population, all studies represented Caucasian populations. In a meta-analysis of these twin studies, we found that genetic factors had a strong effect on the variation of body mass index (BMI) at all ages. The common environmental factors showed a substantial effect in mid-childhood, but this effect disappeared at adolescence. Adoption studies supported the role of family environment in childhood obesity as correlations were found between adoptees and adoptive parents; however, correlations were substantially stronger between parents and their biological offspring, further supporting the importance of genetic factors. In the future, more studies implementing genetic and environmental measures into twin models are needed as they allow estimation of the proportion of total genetic variation explained by candidate genes and analyses of gene-environment interactions. More studies of genetic architecture in non-Caucasian populations, of gene-environment interactions, and of body composition and body fat distribution are needed. IntroductionChildhood obesity is one of the major public health problems in the modern world. In the period [2003][2004][2005][2006], 32% of the US children were classified as obese or overweight, 1 and increasing trends in childhood obesity are seen all over the world. 2 These results are especially alarming as overweight children show a high risk of becoming obese adults. 3,4 Childhood is an important period of life for health interventions as health-related behaviors are just in formation, and it seems possible to intervene for preventing the development of obesity. 5 Thus, it is crucial to further understand the background mechanisms of childhood obesity to find even more effective measures to prevent it before it begins to produce more or less irreversible health damages.Both genetic and environmental factors will probably contribute to childhood obesity. 6 Family studies have shown that obesity runs in families, although more detailed twin, adoption and family studies have shown that genetic differences between individuals explain a major proportion of the within-population variation in body mass index (BMI, kg m À2 ) in adulthood. [7][8][9] It is probable that genetic factors have an important role in childhood obesity also, but their role may be different or they may result from other genes than those that operate in adulthood. 10 The environmental factors shared by family members, such as co-twins in twin studies, have shown only a slight effect on the variation of adult BMI. 7,8 However, they may have a more important role in childhood, where parents and their offspring live together and where siblings obviously have a much greater opportu...

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Search Strategymentioning

confidence: 99%

The genetic and environmental influences on childhood obesity: a systematic review of twin and adoption studies

et al. 2009

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“…4 Parental obesity is arguably the strongest predictor of childhood obesity risk, 5 although this partially reflects nonmodifiable genetic influences. 6,7 Restrictive feeding by mothers is associated with increased child food intake and overweight, 8 although parents may be responding to their child's weight status in a bidirectional manner. Specifically, being an overweight child may elicit restrictive feeding prompts by mothers, which in turn may impede children's self-regulatory eating and promote excess BMI gain.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Infant temperament and eating style predict change in standardized weight status and obesity risk at 6 years of age

Faith

Hittner

2010

Int J Obes

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Objective: Little research has addressed the relationships among infant temperament, eating styles and obesity risk. To address this gap, we tested whether infant temperament and eating patterns at the age of 1 year are associated with a greater increase in standardized weight status, and greater obesity risk at 6 years of age. Design: A secondary, prospective analysis of the Colorado Adoption Study was conducted. The main predictor variables were infant temperament (that is, emotionality, activity, attention span-persistence, reaction to food and soothability) and eating domains (that is, reactivity to food, predictable appetite and distractability at mealtime) at the age of 1 year, along with the body mass index (BMI) of biological mothers. The outcome measures were child weight and height (length) assessed at ages 1 through 6 years, from which weight-for-length and BMI were computed along with the standardized indexes (z-scores) and percentiles. Overweight/obesity status was computed at each year as well. Participants: A primarily White sample of 262 boys and 225 girls, assessed at ages 1 through 6 years, along with their mothers. Results: Among boys, greater attention span-persistence was associated with reduced standardized weight status gain (b ¼ À0.15, Po0.05) and reduced obesity risk (odds ratio (OR) ¼ 0.46, P ¼ 0.06). Among girls, greater soothability and negative reaction to food were associated with greater standardized weight status gain (b ¼ 0.19, Po0.01; and b ¼ 0.16, Po0.05, respectively) and increased obesity risk (OR ¼ 3.72, P ¼ 0.03; and OR ¼ 2.81, P ¼ 0.08, respectively). Biological mothers' obesity status predicted obesity risk in boys (OR ¼ 3.07, P ¼ 0.01) and girls (OR ¼ 5.94, P ¼ 0.03). Conclusions: Male infants with less attention span, and female infants with greater soothability or a more negative food reaction, showed greater increases in standardized weight and were more likely to be overweight/obese at the age of 6 years. The role of infant temperament in pediatric obesity onset warrants greater research.

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“…Beyond the potential benefits for statistical power, the design offers a conceptually elegant framework for testing environmental factors while controlling for genotype. There is compelling evidence that children's weight status, 23 and possibly eating patterns, 24 are genetically influenced; the cotwin design capitalizes on, rather than being confounded by, those findings and can advance current interests in gene-environment interactions. Although the recruitment of twins can be challenging, the payoff in experimental efficiency and the opportunity to isolate environmental effects makes the co-twin design an additional tool in child nutrition research.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Co-twin control designs for testing behavioral economic theories of child nutrition: methodological note

et al. 2006

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Objective: To illustrate the use and potential efficiency of the co-twin control design for testing behavioral economic theories of child nutrition. Design: Co-twin control design, in which participating twins ate an ad libitum lunch on two laboratory visits. At visit 1, child food choices were not reinforced. On visit 2, twins were randomized to conditions such that one twin was reinforced for each fruit and vegetable serving consumed during lunch ('contingent') while his co-twin was reinforced irrespective of food intake ('non-contingent'). Subjects: Six male twins, 5 years old, from three monozygotic twin pairs. Measurements: Ad libitum intake of total energy (kcals), fat (kcals), and fruits and vegetables (servings) from the protocol test meals on the two visits. Results: Compared to twins receiving non-contingent reinforcement, twins receiving contingent reinforcement increased fruit and vegetable intake by 2.0 servings, reduced fat intake 106.3 kcals, and reduced total energy intake by 112.7 kcals. The relative efficiency of the co-twin control design compared to a conventional between-groups design of unrelated children was most powerful for detecting 'substitution effects' (i.e., reduced total energy and fat intake) more so than for detecting increased fruit and vegetable intake. Conclusion: Genetically informative studies, including the co-twin control design, can provide conceptually elegant and efficient strategies for testing environmental theories of child nutrition and obesity.

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Evidence for Independent Genetic Influences on Fat Mass and Body Mass Index in a Pediatric Twin Sample

Cited by 94 publications

References 35 publications

The genetic and environmental influences on childhood obesity: a systematic review of twin and adoption studies

The genetic and environmental influences on childhood obesity: a systematic review of twin and adoption studies

Infant temperament and eating style predict change in standardized weight status and obesity risk at 6 years of age

Co-twin control designs for testing behavioral economic theories of child nutrition: methodological note

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