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Childbirth Moderates the Genetic and Environmental Influences on BMI in Adult Twins
Author(s) -
RebolloMesa Irene,
Ordoñana Juan R.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
obesity
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.438
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1930-739X
pISSN - 1930-7381
DOI - 10.1038/oby.2009.108
Subject(s) - childbirth , dizygotic twins , twin study , medicine , demography , gene–environment interaction , body mass index , obstetrics , developmental psychology , pregnancy , psychology , endocrinology , heritability , biology , genetics , gene , genotype , sociology
We report a study of the moderating role that the number of childbirths has on the genetic and environmental influences on BMI variation. We used a classical twin design with a sample of 704 adult female twins (334 monozygotic and 370 dizygotic). A gene–environment interaction (G × E) model was applied to estimate the moderating effects of childbearing. Results show that age and number of children exert a significant positive main effect on BMI. Furthermore, we found significant moderating effects of childbearing, with a larger number of children associated with an increased sensitivity to environmental factors.