Dataset Information

Genetic and environmental contributions to variations on appetitive traits at 10 years of age: a twin study within the Generation XXI birth cohort.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

Given the variability in adiposity despite ubiquitous exposure to obesogenic food environments, it has been suggested that individuals respond in divergent ways to the environment they live in. The food environment becomes more 'permissive' as children age; therefore, genetic predisposition for a more avid appetite can be better expressed, influencing dietary quality, energy intake and weight gain. Our aim was to explore the genetic and environmental contribution of variations on appetitive traits in a sample of 10-year-old Portuguese children.

Methods

Participants were twins enrolled in the Generation XXI birth cohort (n = 86 pairs). Parents reported twin's zygosity and child appetitive traits at 10 years of age through the Children's Eating Behavior Questionnaire. Intra-class correlations (ICCs) for all appetitive traits were calculated for monozygotic and dizygotic twins separately to examine patterns of resemblance, and structural equation modeling was conducted aiming to estimate the genetic (A), shared (C) and non-shared (E) environmental variances.

Results

Moderate to strong heritability were found for child appetitive traits, with higher ICCs among monozygotic twin pairs. For all appetitive traits, with the exception of emotional undereating, genetic and non-shared environmental effects contributed to appetite variability. For emotional undereating, environmental effects seem to be more important than genetic effects (C: 0.81; 95% CI 0.71; 0.88 and E: 0.19; 95% CI 0.12; 0.29).

Conclusion

There was a significant genetic contribution, followed by non-shared environmental contribution, towards variation in appetitive traits in school-age children. Variation in emotional undereating was primarily explained by shared and non-shared environmental factors.

Level of evidence

Evidence obtained from well-designed cohort or case-control analytic studies.

SUBMITTER: Warkentin S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9123061 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Genetic and environmental contributions to variations on appetitive traits at 10 years of age: a twin study within the Generation XXI birth cohort.

Warkentin Sarah S Severo Milton M Fildes Alison A Oliveira Andreia A

Eating and weight disorders : EWD 20211106 5

<h4>Purpose</h4>Given the variability in adiposity despite ubiquitous exposure to obesogenic food environments, it has been suggested that individuals respond in divergent ways to the environment they live in. The food environment becomes more 'permissive' as children age; therefore, genetic predisposition for a more avid appetite can be better expressed, influencing dietary quality, energy intake and weight gain. Our aim was to explore the genetic and environmental contribution of variations on ...[more]

PMID: 34741756

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Project description:BackgroundOral sensory hypersensitivity has been linked with fussy eating predominantly in non-typically developing children. We hypothesized that child 'Oral' (touch, smell and taste in the mouth) and 'Social-Emotional' (response to social expectations) sensory processing are associated with child appetitive traits in typically developing preteen children. Additionally, we explored relationships between maternal sensory profiles and their offspring's sensory profile.MethodsThis is secondary analysis of 130 mother-child dyads from the 9-11-year-old follow-up of the ROLO longitudinal birth cohort study. The Dunn Sensory Profile (Adolescent/Adult) and the Dunn Child Sensory Profile 2 were used to assess maternal and child sensory profiles, respectively. The Children's Eating Behaviour Questionnaire was used to assess child appetitive traits. Multiple linear regression examined associations between 'Oral' and 'Social-Emotional' segments of the child sensory profile and child appetitive traits. Associations between maternal and child sensory profiles were examined using sensory profile quadrants (Dunn's sensory processing framework). These refer to four distinct patterns of sensory processing that indicate how an individual responds to sensory input.ResultsIn total, 130 mother-child dyads were included. In adjusted analysis child 'Oral' sensory processing was associated with higher mean scores in the appetitive traits 'Desire to Drink' (B = 0.044, 95% CI = 0.025,0.062) and 'Food Fussiness' (B = 0.080, 95% CI = 0.059,0.101) and with lower mean scores in 'Enjoyment of Food' (B=-0.038, 95% CI -0.055,-0.022). Child 'Social-Emotional' responses were associated with higher mean scores in 'Desire to Drink' and 'Food Fussiness'. Higher scores in the maternal sensory profile quadrants of 'Sensitivity', 'Avoiding' and 'Registration' were positively associated with higher scores in the corresponding child sensory profile quadrants.ConclusionOur findings suggest that in typically developing children presenting with fussy eating, oral sensory hypersensitivity and higher scores in social-emotional responses to sensory processing may be an underlying determinant. The relationship observed between 'Oral' and 'Social-Emotional' sensory processing segments and 'Desire to Drink' requires further research to ascertain the type of drinks being consumed and how this impacts appetite. Further research is also required to explore the influence of maternal sensory profile on their offsprings response to sensory input.

Project description:The variation and covariation for many cardiometabolic traits have been decomposed into genetic and environmental fractions, by using twin or single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) models. However, differences in population, age, sex, and other factors hamper the comparison between twin- and SNP-based estimates. Twenty-four cardiometabolic traits and 700,000 genotyped SNPs were available in the study base of 10 682 twins from TwinGene cohort. For the 27 highly correlated pairs (absolute phenotypic correlation coefficient ≥0.40), twin-based bivariate structural equation models were performed in 3870 complete twin pairs, and SNP-based bivariate genomic relatedness matrix restricted maximum likelihood methods were performed in 5779 unrelated individuals. In twin models, the model including additive genetic variance and unique/nonshared environmental variance was the best-fitted model for 7 pairs (5 of them were between blood pressure traits); the model including additive genetic variance, common/shared environmental variance, and unique/nonshared environmental variance components was best fitted for 4 pairs, but estimates of shared environment were close to zero; and the model including additive genetic variance, dominant genetic variance, and unique/nonshared environmental variance was best fitted for 16 pairs, in which significant dominant genetic effects were identified for 13 pairs (including all 9 obesity-related pairs). However, SNP models did not identify significant estimates of dominant genetic effects for any pairs. In the paired t test, twin- and SNP-based estimates of additive genetic correlation were not significantly different (both were 0.67 on average), whereas the nonshared environmental correlations from these 2 models differed slightly from each other (on average, twin-based estimate=0.64 and SNP-based estimate=0.68). Beside additive genetic effects and nonshared environment, nonadditive genetic effects (dominance) also contribute to the covariation between certain cardiometabolic traits (especially for obesity-related pairs); contributions from the shared environment seem to be weak for their covariation in TwinGene samples.

Project description:IntroductionFacial phenotype is influenced by genes and environment; however, little is known about their relative contributions to normal facial morphology. The aim of this study was to assess the relative genetic and environmental contributions to facial morphological variation using a three-dimensional (3D) population-based approach and the classical twin study design.Materials and methods3D facial images of 1380 female twins from the TwinsUK Registry database were used. All faces were landmarked, by manually placing 37 landmark points, and Procrustes registered. Three groups of traits were extracted and analysed: 19 principal components (uPC) and 23 principal components (sPC), derived from the unscaled and scaled landmark configurations respectively, and 1275 linear distances measured between 51 landmarks (37 manually identified and 14 automatically calculated). The intraclass correlation coefficients, rMZ and rDZ, broad-sense heritability (h2), common (c2) and unique (e2) environment contributions were calculated for all traits for the monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins.ResultsHeritability of 13 uPC and 17 sPC reached statistical significance, with h2 ranging from 38.8% to 78.5% in the former and 30.5% to 84.8% in the latter group. Also, 1222 distances showed evidence of genetic control. Common environment contributed to one PC in both groups and 53 linear distances (4.3%). Unique environment contributed to 17 uPC and 20 sPC and 1245 distances.ConclusionsGenetic factors can explain more than 70% of the phenotypic facial variation in facial size, nose (width, prominence and height), lips prominence and inter-ocular distance. A few traits have shown potential dominant genetic influence: the prominence and height of the nose, the lower lip prominence in relation to the chin and upper lip philtrum length. Environmental contribution to facial variation seems to be the greatest for the mandibular ramus height and horizontal facial asymmetry.

Dataset Information

Genetic and environmental contributions to variations on appetitive traits at 10 years of age: a twin study within the Generation XXI birth cohort.

Purpose

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Level of evidence

Publications

Genetic and environmental contributions to variations on appetitive traits at 10 years of age: a twin study within the Generation XXI birth cohort.

Similar Datasets

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