TY - JOUR

T1 - Differences in genetic and environmental variation in adult BMI by sex, age, time period, and region

T2 - an individual-based pooled analysis of 40 twin cohorts

AU - Silventoinen, Karri

AU - Jelenkovic, Aline

AU - Sund, Reijo

AU - Yokoyama, Yoshie

AU - Hur, Yoon-Mi

AU - Cozen, Wendy

AU - Hwang, Amie E

AU - Mack, Thomas M

AU - Honda, Chika

AU - Inui, Fujio

AU - Iwatani, Yoshinori

AU - Watanabe, Mikio

AU - Tomizawa, Rie

AU - Pietiläinen, Kirsi H

AU - Rissanen, Aila

AU - Siribaddana, Sisira H

AU - Hotopf, Matthew

AU - Sumathipala, Athula

AU - Rijsdijk, Fruhling

AU - Tan, Qihua

AU - Zhang, Dongfeng

AU - Pang, Zengchang

AU - Piirtola, Maarit

AU - Aaltonen, Sari

AU - Öncel, Sevgi Y

AU - Aliev, Fazil

AU - Rebato, Esther

AU - Hjelmborg, Jacob B

AU - Christensen, Kaare

AU - Skytthe, Axel

AU - Kyvik, Kirsten O

AU - Silberg, Judy L

AU - Eaves, Lindon J

AU - Cutler, Tessa L

AU - Ordoñana, Juan R

AU - Sánchez-Romera, Juan F

AU - Colodro-Conde, Lucia

AU - Song, Yun-Mi

AU - Yang, Sarah

AU - Lee, Kayoung

AU - Franz, Carol E

AU - Kremen, William S

AU - Lyons, Michael J

AU - Busjahn, Andreas

AU - Nelson, Tracy L

AU - Whitfield, Keith E

AU - Kandler, Christian

AU - Jang, Kerry L

AU - Gatz, Margaret

AU - Butler, David A

AU - Stazi, Maria A

AU - Fagnani, Corrado

AU - D'Ippolito, Cristina

AU - Duncan, Glen E

AU - Buchwald, Dedra

AU - Martin, Nicholas G

AU - Medland, Sarah E

AU - Montgomery, Grant W

AU - Jeong, Hoe-Uk

AU - Swan, Gary E

AU - Krasnow, Ruth

AU - Magnusson, Patrik Ke

AU - Pedersen, Nancy L

AU - Dahl Aslan, Anna K

AU - McAdams, Tom A

AU - Eley, Thalia C

AU - Gregory, Alice M

AU - Tynelius, Per

AU - Baker, Laura A

AU - Tuvblad, Catherine

AU - Bayasgalan, Gombojav

AU - Narandalai, Danshiitsoodol

AU - Spector, Timothy D

AU - Mangino, Massimo

AU - Lachance, Genevieve

AU - Burt, S Alexandra

AU - Klump, Kelly L

AU - Harris, Jennifer R

AU - Brandt, Ingunn

AU - Nilsen, Thomas S

AU - Krueger, Robert F

AU - McGue, Matt

AU - Pahlen, Shandell

AU - Corley, Robin P

AU - Huibregtse, Brooke M

AU - Bartels, Meike

AU - van Beijsterveldt, Catharina Em

AU - Willemsen, Gonneke

AU - Goldberg, Jack H

AU - Rasmussen, Finn

AU - Tarnoki, Adam D

AU - Tarnoki, David L

AU - Derom, Catherine A

AU - Vlietinck, Robert F

AU - Loos, Ruth Jf

AU - Hopper, John L

AU - Sung, Joohon

AU - Maes, Hermine H

AU - Turkheimer, Eric

AU - Boomsma, Dorret I

AU - Sørensen, Thorkild Ia

AU - Kaprio, Jaakko

N1 - © 2017 American Society for Nutrition.

PY - 2017/8

Y1 - 2017/8

N2 - Background: Genes and the environment contribute to variation in adult body mass index [BMI (in kg/m(2))], but factors modifying these variance components are poorly understood.Objective: We analyzed genetic and environmental variation in BMI between men and women from young adulthood to old age from the 1940s to the 2000s and between cultural-geographic regions representing high (North America and Australia), moderate (Europe), and low (East Asia) prevalence of obesity.Design: We used genetic structural equation modeling to analyze BMI in twins ≥20 y of age from 40 cohorts representing 20 countries (140,379 complete twin pairs).Results: The heritability of BMI decreased from 0.77 (95% CI: 0.77, 0.78) and 0.75 (95% CI: 0.74, 0.75) in men and women 20-29 y of age to 0.57 (95% CI: 0.54, 0.60) and 0.59 (95% CI: 0.53, 0.65) in men 70-79 y of age and women 80 y of age, respectively. The relative influence of unique environmental factors correspondingly increased. Differences in the sets of genes affecting BMI in men and women increased from 20-29 to 60-69 y of age. Mean BMI and variances in BMI increased from the 1940s to the 2000s and were greatest in North America and Australia, followed by Europe and East Asia. However, heritability estimates were largely similar over measurement years and between regions. There was no evidence of environmental factors shared by co-twins affecting BMI.Conclusions: The heritability of BMI decreased and differences in the sets of genes affecting BMI in men and women increased from young adulthood to old age. The heritability of BMI was largely similar between cultural-geographic regions and measurement years, despite large differences in mean BMI and variances in BMI. Our results show a strong influence of genetic factors on BMI, especially in early adulthood, regardless of the obesity level in the population.

AB - Background: Genes and the environment contribute to variation in adult body mass index [BMI (in kg/m(2))], but factors modifying these variance components are poorly understood.Objective: We analyzed genetic and environmental variation in BMI between men and women from young adulthood to old age from the 1940s to the 2000s and between cultural-geographic regions representing high (North America and Australia), moderate (Europe), and low (East Asia) prevalence of obesity.Design: We used genetic structural equation modeling to analyze BMI in twins ≥20 y of age from 40 cohorts representing 20 countries (140,379 complete twin pairs).Results: The heritability of BMI decreased from 0.77 (95% CI: 0.77, 0.78) and 0.75 (95% CI: 0.74, 0.75) in men and women 20-29 y of age to 0.57 (95% CI: 0.54, 0.60) and 0.59 (95% CI: 0.53, 0.65) in men 70-79 y of age and women 80 y of age, respectively. The relative influence of unique environmental factors correspondingly increased. Differences in the sets of genes affecting BMI in men and women increased from 20-29 to 60-69 y of age. Mean BMI and variances in BMI increased from the 1940s to the 2000s and were greatest in North America and Australia, followed by Europe and East Asia. However, heritability estimates were largely similar over measurement years and between regions. There was no evidence of environmental factors shared by co-twins affecting BMI.Conclusions: The heritability of BMI decreased and differences in the sets of genes affecting BMI in men and women increased from young adulthood to old age. The heritability of BMI was largely similar between cultural-geographic regions and measurement years, despite large differences in mean BMI and variances in BMI. Our results show a strong influence of genetic factors on BMI, especially in early adulthood, regardless of the obesity level in the population.

KW - Adult

KW - Age Factors

KW - Aged

KW - Aged, 80 and over

KW - Australia

KW - Body Mass Index

KW - Body Weight

KW - Culture

KW - Environment

KW - Europe

KW - Female

KW - Gene-Environment Interaction

KW - Humans

KW - Male

KW - Middle Aged

KW - North America

KW - Obesity

KW - Prevalence

KW - Quantitative Trait, Heritable

KW - Sex Factors

KW - Twins, Dizygotic

KW - Twins, Monozygotic

KW - Young Adult

KW - Journal Article

KW - Twin Study

U2 - 10.3945/ajcn.117.153643

DO - 10.3945/ajcn.117.153643

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 28679550

VL - 106

SP - 457

EP - 466

JO - American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

JF - American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

SN - 0002-9165

IS - 2

ER -