Heritability of body mass index in pre-adolescence, young adulthood and late adulthood (original) (raw)

Abstract

Increased body mass index (BMI) is a worldwide health issue. Individual differences in the susceptibility to increased BMI could be related to genes or environment. We performed a systematic review of genetic studies on BMI in pre-adolescence, young adulthood and late adulthood. We searched PubMed and EMBASE with heritability, body mass index, BMI, weight, height, anthropometry and twins as search terms. Studies reporting intra-pair correlations of healthy twin pairs that were raised together were included. This resulted in the inclusion of 8,179 monozygotic (MZ) and 9,977 dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs from twelve published studies in addition to individual participant data for 629 MZ and 594 DZ pairs from four twin registries. Structural equation modelling with intra-pair twin correlations showed that the heritability of BMI remained high over all age categories ranging from 61 % (95 % CI 54–64 %) to 80 % (95 % CI 76–81 %) for male and female subjects combined, while unique environmental influences increased from 14 % (95 % CI 13–15 %) to 40 % (95 % CI 37–43 %) with increasing age. Heritability of BMI remains consistently high over different age categories. Environmental changes over time do not seem to have as big a relative impact on an individual’s weight as previously reported, suggesting a mainly genetic influence on variation in BMI over the years.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

A:

Additive genetic influences

BMI:

Body mass index

C:

Common environmental influences

CAATSA:

Carolina African American Twin Study of Aging

DZ:

Dizygotic

E:

Unique environmental influences

EFPTS:

East Flanders Prospective Twin Study

IPD:

Individual participant data

LLTS:

Leuven Longitudinal Twin Study

MTR:

Murcia Twin Register

MZ:

Monozygotic

NTR:

Netherlands Twin Registry

TEDS:

Twins Early Development Study

WHO:

World Health Organisation

References

  1. WHO (2011) March 2011 [cited 2012 January 24]. Available from: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/.
  2. WHO (2005) The World Health Organization warns of the rising threat of heart disease and stroke as overweight and obesity rapidly increase, in WHO news release: Geneva.
  3. Dietz WH, Gortmaker SL. Do we fatten our children at the television set? Obesity and television viewing in children and adolescents. Pediatrics. 1985;75:807–12.
    PubMed Google Scholar
  4. Cohen D. Obesity and the built environment: changes in environmental cues cause energy imbalances. Int J Obes. 2008;32:S137–42.
    Article Google Scholar
  5. Hu F, Li T, Colditz G. Television watching and other sedentary behaviors in relation to risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus in women. J Am Med Assoc. 2003;289(14):1785–91.
    Article Google Scholar
  6. Haworth C, et al. Increasing heritability of BMI and stronger associations with the FTO gene over childhood. Obesity. 2008;16:2663–8.
    Article PubMed Google Scholar
  7. Lajunen H, et al. Genetic and environmental effects on body mass index during adolescence: a prospective study among Finnish twins. Int J Obes. 2009;33:559–67.
    Article Google Scholar
  8. Carmichael C, McGue M. A cross-sectional examination of height, weight, and body mass index in adult twins. J Gerontol Biol Sci. 1995;50A(4):B237–44.
    Article Google Scholar
  9. Koeppen-Schomerus G, Wardle J, Plomin R. A genetic analysis of weight and overweight in 4-year-old twin pairs. Int J Obes. 2001;25:838–44.
    Article CAS Google Scholar
  10. Schousboe K, et al. Sex differences in heritability of BMI: a comparative study of results from twin studies in eight countries. Twin Res. 2003;6(5):409–21.
    PubMed Google Scholar
  11. Zillikens M, et al. Sex-specific genetic effects influence variation in body composition. Diabetologia. 2008;51:2233–41.
    Article PubMed CAS Google Scholar
  12. Wisniewski A, Chernausek S. Gender in childhood obesity: family environment, hormones, and genes. Gend Med. 2009;6:76–85.
    Article PubMed Google Scholar
  13. Boomsma D, et al. Netherlands Twin Register: from twins to twin families. Twin Res Hum Genet. 2006;9(6):849–57.
    Article PubMed Google Scholar
  14. Whitfield K, et al. Does intact pair status matter in the study of African American twins? The Carolina African American Twin Study of Aging. Exp Aging Res. 2003;29(4):407–23.
    Article PubMed Google Scholar
  15. Ordoñana J, et al. An initiative in Spain for the study of women’s health: the Murcia Twin Registry. Twin Res Hum Genet. 2006;9(6):865–7.
    Article PubMed Google Scholar
  16. Beunen G, et al. Univariate and multivariate genetic analysis of subcutaneous fatness and fat distribution in early adolescence. Behav Genet. 1998;28(4):179–288.
    Article Google Scholar
  17. Derom C, et al. The east flanders prospective twin survey (EFPTS). Twin Res Hum Genet. 2006;9(6):733–8.
    Article PubMed Google Scholar
  18. WHO (2010) International Classification of Diseases (ICD). 10th ed.
  19. Haworth C, et al. Increasing heritability of BMI and stronger associations with the FTO gene over childhood. Obesity. 2008;16(12):2663–8.
    Article PubMed Google Scholar
  20. Haworth C, et al. Childhood obesity: genetic and environmental overlap with normal-range BMI. Obesity. 2008;16(7):1585–90.
    Article PubMed Google Scholar
  21. Wardle J, et al. Evidence for a strong genetic influence on childhood adiposity despite the force of the obesogenic environment. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008;87:398–404.
    PubMed CAS Google Scholar
  22. Neale M (1999) Mx: statistical modeling 5th ed: Department of Psychiatry, Box 126 MCV, Richmond, VA 23298.
  23. Neale M, Cardon L. Methodology for genetic studies of twins and families. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers; 1992.
    Google Scholar
  24. Sullivan PF, Kendler KS, Neale MC. Schizophrenia as a complex trait: evidence from a meta-analysis of twin studies. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2003;60(12):1187–92.
    Article PubMed Google Scholar
  25. Sullivan PF, Neale MC, Kendler KS. Genetic epidemiology of major depression: review and meta-analysis. Am J Psychiatry. 2000;157(10):1552–62.
    Article PubMed CAS Google Scholar
  26. Harris J, Tambs K, Magnus P. Sex-specific effects for body mass index in the new Norwegian twin panel. Genet Epidemiol. 1995;12:251–65.
    Article PubMed CAS Google Scholar
  27. Korkeila M, et al. Effects of gender and age on the heritability of body mass index. Int J Obes. 1991;15:647–54.
    PubMed CAS Google Scholar
  28. Silventoinen K, et al. Heritability of body size and muscle strength in young adulthood: a study of one million Swedish men. Genet Epidemiol. 2008;32(4):341–9.
    Article PubMed Google Scholar
  29. Nelson T, et al. Genetic and environmental influences on body fat distribution, fasting insulin levels and CVD: are the influences shared? Twin Res Hum Genet. 2000;3(1):43–50.
    CAS Google Scholar
  30. Cardon L, et al. Genetic and environmental correlations between obesity and body fat distribution in adult male twins. Hum Biol. 1994;66(3):465–79.
    PubMed CAS Google Scholar
  31. Faith M, et al. Evidence for independent genetic influences of fat mass and body mass index in a pediatric twin sample. Pediatrics. 1999;104:61–7.
    Article PubMed CAS Google Scholar
  32. Stunkard A, Foch T, Hrubec Z. A twin study of human obesity. J Am Med Assoc. 1986;256(1):51–4.
    Article CAS Google Scholar
  33. Wade T, et al. The influence of genetic and environmental factors in estimations of current body size, desired body size, and body dissatisfaction. Twin Res Hum Genet. 2001;4(4):260–5.
    CAS Google Scholar
  34. Böttcher Y, et al. Obesity genes: implication in childhood obesity. Occas Rev. 2012;22(1):31–6.
    Google Scholar
  35. Berulava T, Horsthemke B. The obesity-associated SNPs in intron 1 of the FTO gene affect primary transcript levels. Eur J Hum Genet. 2010;18(9):1054–6.
    Article PubMed CAS Google Scholar
  36. Hofker M, Wijmenga C. A supersized list of obesity genes. Nat Genet. 2009;41(2):139–40.
    Article PubMed CAS Google Scholar
  37. Haworth CM, et al. Increasing heritability of BMI and stronger associations with the FTO gene over childhood. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2008;16(12):2663–8.
    Article Google Scholar
  38. Pietiläinen K, et al. Genetic and environmental influences on the tracking of body size from birth to early adulthood. Obes Res. 2002;10(9):875–84.
    Article PubMed Google Scholar
  39. Ortega-Alonso A, et al. Genetic influences on change in BMI from middle to old age: a 29-year follow-up of twin sisters. Behav Genet. 2009;39:154–64.
    Article PubMed Google Scholar
  40. Nelson M, et al. Body mass index gain, fast food, and physical activity: effects of shared environments over time. Obesity. 2006;14(4):701–9.
    Article PubMed Google Scholar
  41. Silventoinen K et al. The genetic and environmental influences on childhood obesity: a systematic review of twin and adoption studies. Int J Obes. 2010;34:29–40.
    Google Scholar
  42. Maes H, Neale M, Eaves L. Genetic and environmental factors in relative body weight and human adiposity. Behav Genet. 1997;27(4):325–51.
    Article PubMed CAS Google Scholar
  43. Faith M, et al. Parental feeding attitudes and styles and child body mass index: prospective analysis of a gene-environment interaction. Pediatrics. 2004;114:e429–36.
    Article PubMed Google Scholar
  44. Martínez J, et al. Obesity risk is associated with carbohydrate intake in women carrying the Gln27Glu β2-adrenoceptor polymorphism. J Nutr. 2003;133:2549–54.
    PubMed Google Scholar
  45. Silventoinen K, et al. Genetics of pubertal timing and its associations with relative weight in childhood and adult height: the Swedish Young Male Twins Study. Pediatrics. 2008;121(4):e885–91.
    Article PubMed Google Scholar
  46. Beunen G, et al. Genetic variance of adolescent growth in stature. Ann Hum Biol. 2000;27(2):173–86.
    Article PubMed CAS Google Scholar
  47. Rogol A, Clark P, Roemnich J. Growth and pubertal development in children and adolescents: effects of diet and physical activity. Am J Clin Nutr. 2000;72(supplement):521S–8S.
    PubMed CAS Google Scholar
  48. Hur Y-M. Sex difference in heritability of BMI in South Korean adolescent twins. Obesity. 2007;15:2908–11.
    Article PubMed Google Scholar
  49. Harrington D, Elliott S. Weighing the importance of neighbourhood: a multilevel exploration of the determinants of overweight and obesity. Soc Sci Med. 2009;68:593–600.
    Article PubMed Google Scholar
  50. Kremers S, et al. Environmental influences on energy balance-related behaviors: a dual-process view. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2006;3:9.
    Article PubMed Google Scholar
  51. Pietiläinen K, et al. Physical inactivity and obesity: a vicious circle. Obesity. 2008;16(2):409–14.
    Article PubMed Google Scholar
  52. Mustelin L, et al. Physical activity reduces the influence of genetic effects on BMI and waist circumference: a study in young adult twins. Int J Obes. 2009;33:29–36.
    Article CAS Google Scholar

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Raymond Timmins of the Department of Public Health at the University of Birmingham (UK) for gathering a large part of the papers. This research was funded by the Birmingham Children’s Hospital Research Foundation (BCHRF102f). The MTR is supported by the Seneca Foundation (08633/PHCS/08) and MICINN (PSI11560-2009). LLTS is supported by the Research Fund Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (OT/86/80), National Bank of Belgium, Fund for Medical Research Belgium (3.0038.82, 3.0008.90, 3.0098.91), and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (860823). This study was previously published in abstract form in Twin Research and Human Genetics (2010): 13(3), p279.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unit of Urologic and Genetic Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK
    Cassandra Nan, Claire Warner, Tom Fowler & Maurice Zeegers
  2. Biostatistics Group, Department of Public Health, Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
    Boliang Guo & Jonathan Deeks
  3. Mental Health Commissioning and Service Redesign, NHS, Cambridgeshire, UK
    Claire Warner
  4. Department of Public Health, Heart of Birmingham Teaching PCT, Birmingham, UK
    Tom Fowler
  5. School of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
    Timothy Barrett
  6. Department of Biological Psychology, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
    Dorret Boomsma
  7. Health and Exercise Science and Colorado School of Public Health, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, United States of America
    Tracy Nelson
  8. Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States of America
    Keith Whitfield
  9. Department of Kinesiology, Faculty of Kinesiology and Rehabilitation Sciences, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
    Gaston Beunen, Martine Thomis & Hermine Hendrik Maes
  10. Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Virginia Institute of Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, United States of America
    Hermine Hendrik Maes
  11. Department of Human Genetics, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
    Catherine Derom
  12. Area of Psychobiology, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain
    Juan Ordoñana
  13. Department of Complex Genetics, Cluster of Genetics and Cell Biology, Nutrition and Toxicology Research Institute Maastricht, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
    Maurice Zeegers

Authors

  1. Cassandra Nan
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
  2. Boliang Guo
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
  3. Claire Warner
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
  4. Tom Fowler
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
  5. Timothy Barrett
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
  6. Dorret Boomsma
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
  7. Tracy Nelson
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
  8. Keith Whitfield
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
  9. Gaston Beunen
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
  10. Martine Thomis
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
  11. Hermine Hendrik Maes
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
  12. Catherine Derom
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
  13. Juan Ordoñana
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
  14. Jonathan Deeks
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
  15. Maurice Zeegers
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence toCassandra Nan.

Rights and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Nan, C., Guo, B., Warner, C. et al. Heritability of body mass index in pre-adolescence, young adulthood and late adulthood.Eur J Epidemiol 27, 247–253 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-012-9678-6

Download citation

Keywords