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ABSTRACT: Objective
The objective of this study was to analyze how parental education modifies the genetic and environmental variances of BMI from infancy to old age in three geographic-cultural regions.Methods
A pooled sample of 29 cohorts including 143,499 twin individuals with information on parental education and BMI from age 1 to 79 years (299,201 BMI measures) was analyzed by genetic twin modeling.Results
Until 4 years of age, parental education was not consistently associated with BMI. Thereafter, higher parental education level was associated with lower BMI in males and females. Total and additive genetic variances of BMI were smaller in the offspring of highly educated parents than in those whose parents had low education levels. Especially in North American and Australian children, environmental factors shared by co-twins also contributed to the higher BMI variation in the low education level category. In Europe and East Asia, the associations of parental education with mean BMI and BMI variance were weaker than in North America and Australia.Conclusions
Lower parental education level is associated with higher mean BMI and larger genetic variance of BMI after early childhood, especially in the obesogenic macro-environment. The interplay among genetic predisposition, childhood social environment, and macro-social context is important for socioeconomic differences in BMI.
SUBMITTER: Silventoinen K
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6478550 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Silventoinen Karri K Jelenkovic Aline A Latvala Antti A Yokoyama Yoshie Y Sund Reijo R Sugawara Masumi M Tanaka Mami M Matsumoto Satoko S Aaltonen Sari S Piirtola Maarit M Freitas Duarte L DL Maia José A JA Öncel Sevgi Y SY Aliev Fazil F Ji Fuling F Ning Feng F Pang Zengchang Z Rebato Esther E Saudino Kimberly J KJ Cutler Tessa L TL Hopper John L JL Ullemar Vilhelmina V Almqvist Catarina C Magnusson Patrik K E PKE Cozen Wendy W Hwang Amie E AE Mack Thomas M TM Willemsen Gonneke G Bartels Meike M van Beijsterveldt Catharina E M CEM Nelson Tracy L TL Whitfield Keith E KE Sung Joohon J Kim Jina J Lee Jooyeon J Lee Sooji S Llewellyn Clare H CH Fisher Abigail A Medda Emanuela E Nisticò Lorenza L Toccaceli Virgilia V Baker Laura A LA Tuvblad Catherine C Corley Robin P RP Huibregtse Brooke M BM Derom Catherine A CA Vlietinck Robert F RF Loos Ruth J F RJF Knafo-Noam Ariel A Mankuta David D Abramson Lior L Burt S Alexandra SA Klump Kelly L KL Silberg Judy L JL Maes Hermine H HH Krueger Robert F RF McGue Matt M Pahlen Shandell S Gatz Margaret M Butler David A DA Harris Jennifer R JR Nilsen Thomas S TS Harden K Paige KP Tucker-Drob Elliot M EM Franz Carol E CE Kremen William S WS Lyons Michael J MJ Lichtenstein Paul P Jeong Hoe-Uk HU Hur Yoon-Mi YM Boomsma Dorret I DI Sørensen Thorkild I A TIA Kaprio Jaakko J
Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) 20190405 5
<h4>Objective</h4>The objective of this study was to analyze how parental education modifies the genetic and environmental variances of BMI from infancy to old age in three geographic-cultural regions.<h4>Methods</h4>A pooled sample of 29 cohorts including 143,499 twin individuals with information on parental education and BMI from age 1 to 79 years (299,201 BMI measures) was analyzed by genetic twin modeling.<h4>Results</h4>Until 4 years of age, parental education was not consistently associate ...[more]