Influence of heredity and environment in determination of skinfold thickness in children.

Brook, C. G. D.; Huntley, Renee M.; Slack, Jason V.

doi:10.1136/bmj.2.5973.719

Cited by 126 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…The Hereditary Abilities Study initiated in 1952 was a comprehensive study performed in the United States to investigate heritability of physical traits, including measures of adiposity (birth weight, body weight, and waist circumference) among monozygous and dizygous twins, which demonstrated that the greater part of variance for these traits was genetically determined (Clark 1956). These findings were consistent with other studies reported over 20 years later indicating a high heritability of body weight among monozygous and dizygous twins (Brook et al 1975;Borjeson 1976;Feinleib et al 1977). However, it became apparent that genetic susceptibility interacts with undefined environmental factors to increase adiposity and body weight, in what has formally become known as a ''gene-environment interaction'' and defined as Fig.…”

Section: Heritability Of Body Weight and Interaction With Environmentsupporting

confidence: 91%

The genetics of childhood obesity and interaction with dietary macronutrients

et al. 2013

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The genes contributing to childhood obesity are categorized into three different types based on distinct genetic and phenotypic characteristics. These types of childhood obesity are represented by rare monogenic forms of syndromic or non-syndromic childhood obesity, and common polygenic childhood obesity. In some cases, genetic susceptibility to these forms of childhood obesity may result from different variations of the same gene. Although the prevalence for rare monogenic forms of childhood obesity has not increased in recent times, the prevalence of common childhood obesity has increased in the United States and developing countries throughout the world during the past few decades. A number of recent genome-wide association studies and mouse model studies have established the identification of susceptibility genes contributing to common childhood obesity. Accumulating evidence suggests that this type of childhood obesity represents a complex metabolic disease resulting from an interaction with environmental factors, including dietary macronutrients. The objective of this article is to provide a review on the origins, mechanisms, and health consequences of obesity susceptibility genes and interaction with dietary macronutrients that predispose to childhood obesity. It is proposed that increased knowledge of these obesity susceptibility genes and interaction with dietary macronutrients will provide valuable insight for individual, family, and community preventative lifestyle intervention, and eventually targeted nutritional and medicinal therapies.

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Section: Heritability Of Body Weight and Interaction With Environmentsupporting

confidence: 91%

The genetics of childhood obesity and interaction with dietary macronutrients

et al. 2013

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“…In addition, we found three twin studies that had pooled information on children at different ages. [27][28][29] We did not limit our search to weight, but except one early twin study, 27 all of these studies had used BMI or relative weight as an indicator of obesity. Two twin studies represented Korean population, 16,19 one Taiwanese population 29 and one had pooled information from four East Asian populations, 30 but otherwise the studies were conducted in the Caucasian populations.…”

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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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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“…Also, studies of the heritability of skinfold thicknesses in children yield similar results. 13,18,19 Adoption studies, on the other hand, show only moderate effects of genes (30 ± 40%) on variation of BMI and skinfolds, and family studies generally yield estimates of heritability intermediate between the twin and adoption studies. 20 Results from longitudinal studies support the suggestions from cross-sectional data that there are effects of genes on BMI that are age-speci®c.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some studies have found greater heritability of body weight in males than in females, 8,10 others the opposite. 5,7,16,19 Twin cohorts of different sizes from different ethnic backgrounds are frequently studied, but it is not known, whether the results can be generalized to the singleton population. Growth characteristics of twins have been compared to those of singletons 21 ± 25 but, again, never in nationwide samples.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Distribution and heritability of BMI in Finnish adolescents aged 16 y and 17 y: A study of 4884 twins and 2509 singletons

Pietiläinen

Kaprio

Rissanen³

et al. 1999

Int J Obes

143

103

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OBJECTIVE: 1) To estimate the heritability of body mass index (BMI) in twins aged 16 y and 17 y, with a special emphasis on gender-speci®c genetic effects and 2) to compare heights, weights, BMIs, and prevalences of`overweight' (BMI ! ! 25 kgam 2 ) in these twins and in singletons aged 16.5 y. DESIGN: Cross-sectional and longitudinal epidemiological questionnaire study of twins at ages 16 y and 17 y, and cross-sectional study of singletons at age 16.5 y. MEASUREMENTS: BMI (kgam 2 ) was calculated from self-reported heights (m) and weights (kg). SUBJECTS: 4884 twins (2299 boys, 2585 girls) at baseline (age 16 y), 4401 twins (2002 boys, 2399 girls) at age 17 y, and 2509 singletons (1147 boys, 1362 girls) at age 16.5 y. Both twin and singleton samples are nationally representative. RESULTS: At the ages of 16 y and 17 y, genetic effects accounted for over 80% of the interindividual variation of BMI. The correlations for male ± female pairs were smaller than for either male-male or female ± female dizygotic pairs. The singletons, especially the boys, had a higher BMI than the twins. Nine percent of singleton boys, but only 4 ± 6% of twin boys and twin and singleton girls were`overweight' (BMI ! ! 25 kgam 2 ). CONCLUSIONS: Among adolescents, genetic factors play a signi®cant role in the causes of variation in BMI. The genetic modelling suggested that the sets of genes explaining the variation of BMI may differ in males and females. At this age, the twin boys, but not girls, seem to be leaner than singletons. Further follow-up will indicate whether these small differences disappear, and if not, what implications it might have to the generalizability of twin studies.

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Influence of heredity and environment in determination of skinfold thickness in children.

Cited by 126 publications

References 7 publications

The genetics of childhood obesity and interaction with dietary macronutrients

The genetics of childhood obesity and interaction with dietary macronutrients

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

Distribution and heritability of BMI in Finnish adolescents aged 16 y and 17 y: A study of 4884 twins and 2509 singletons

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