Genetic and environmental influences on eating behaviors in 2.5- and 9-year-old children: a longitudinal twin study

International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity

Daniel Pérusse⁴  Michel Boivin¹  Richard Tremblay²  Bénédicte Fontaine-Bisson⁵  Jaakko Kaprio⁷  Brigitte Bédard⁶  Maikol Diasparra⁶  Lise Dubois³ 

[1]École de psychologie, Université Laval, 2325 rue des Bibliothèques, Québec, QC, Canada

[2]School of Public Health, Physiotherapy & Population Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

[3]Department of Epidemiology & Community Medicine, University of Ottawa, 451 Smyth Rd, Ottawa, ON, Canada

[4]Département d’anthropologie, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, succursale Centre-ville, Montréal, QC, Canada

[5]Nutrition Sciences Program, University of Ottawa, 25 University Private, Ottawa, ON, Canada

[6]Institute of Population Health, University of Ottawa, 1 Stewart St., Ottawa, ON, Canada

[7]Institute for Molecular Medicine (FIMM), University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 20, Tukholmankatu 8, Helsinki, Finland

关键词: Twins;    Children;    Environmental influences;    Heritability;    Eating behaviors;   

Others  :  805901
DOI  :  10.1186/1479-5868-10-134

 received in 2013-03-11, accepted in 2013-12-02,  发布年份 2013

【 摘 要 】

Background

Eating behaviors during childhood are related both to children’s diet quality and to their weight status. A better understanding of the determinants of eating behavior during childhood is essential for carrying out effective dietary interventions.

Methods

We assessed the contribution of genetic and environmental factors to variations in selected eating behaviors in early and late childhood. Information on eating behaviors came from questionnaires administered to parents of children participating in the Quebec Newborn Twin Study when the twins were 2.5 and 9 years old (n = 692 children). Dichotomous variables were derived and analyzed using structural equation modeling, as part of a classic twin study design. We performed univariate and bivariate longitudinal analyses to quantify sources of variation and covariation across ages, for several eating behavior traits.

Results

We found moderate to strong heritability for traits related to appetite such as eating too much, not eating enough and eating too fast. Univariate analysis estimates varied from 0.71 (95% CI: 0.49, 0.87) to 0.89 (0.75, 0.96) in younger children and from 0.44 (0.18, 0.66) to 0.56 (0.28, 0.78) in older children. Bivariate longitudinal analyses indicated modest to moderate genetic correlations across ages (r_A varying from 0.34 to 0.58). Common genetic influences explained 17% to 43% of the phenotypic correlation between 2.5 and 9 years for these appetite-related behaviors. In 9-year-old children, food acceptance traits, such as refusing to eat and being fussy about food, had high heritability estimates, 0.84 (0.63, 0.94) and 0.85 (0.59, 0.96) respectively, while in younger children, the shared environment (i.e., common to both twins) contributed most to phenotypic variance. Variances in meal-pattern-related behaviors were mostly explained by shared environmental influences.

Conclusions

Genetic predispositions explain a large part of the variations in traits related to appetite during childhood, though our results suggest that as children get older, appetite-related behaviors become more sensitive to environmental influences outside the home. Still, for several traits environmental influences shared by twins appear to have the largest relative importance. This finding supports the notion that familial context has considerable potential to influence the development of healthy eating habits throughout childhood.

【 授权许可】

   
2013 Dubois et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

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