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Can dietary intake patterns account for the familial aggregation of disease? Evidence from adult siblings living apart
Author(s) -
Sellers Thomas A.,
Kushi Lawrence H.,
Potter John D.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
genetic epidemiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.301
H-Index - 98
eISSN - 1098-2272
pISSN - 0741-0395
DOI - 10.1002/gepi.1370080204
Subject(s) - family aggregation , disease , demography , biology , medicine , sociology
The familial aggregation of certain chronic diseases is well documented [Perkins, 1986; King et al., 1984; Anderson, 1982]. Dietary data on adult brothers living apart were used to examine whether familial clustering of disease could be explained by nature or nutriture. Intakes of nutrients were strikingly more similar among siblings than expected: when correlations were adjusted for country of residence, 21 of 25 (84%) were statistically significant. Thus, dietary patterns among adult siblings are more alike than could be predicted by their sharing a common culture, as alike as has been described for monozygotic twins, and as alike as described for familial correlations of serum cholesterol. Incorporation of dietary measures in cotwin studies or studies of siblings can improve the estimates of the true genetic effect on disease pathogenesis.