Journal article
Associations Between Fast-Food Consumption and Body Mass Index: A Cross-Sectional Study in Adult Twins
Twin research and human genetics, Vol.18(4), pp.375-382
08/2015
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/109252
PMCID: PMC4560337
PMID: 26005202
Abstract
Obesity is a substantial health problem in the United States, and is associated with many chronic diseases. Previous studies have linked poor dietary habits to obesity. This cross-sectional study aimed to identify the association between body mass index (BMI) and fast-food consumption among 669 same-sex adult twin pairs residing in the Puget Sound region around Seattle, Washington. We calculated twin-pair correlations for BMI and fast-food consumption. We next regressed BMI on fast-food consumption using generalized estimating equations (GEE), and finally estimated the within-pair difference in BMI associated with a difference in fast-food consumption, which controls for all potential genetic and environment characteristics shared between twins within a pair. Twin-pair correlations for fast-food consumption were similar for identical (monozygotic; MZ) and fraternal (dizygotic; DZ) twins, but were substantially higher in MZ than DZ twins for BMI. In the unadjusted GEE model, greater fast-food consumption was associated with larger BMI. For twin pairs overall, and for MZ twins, there was no association between within-pair differences in fast-food consumption and BMI in any model. In contrast, there was a significant association between within-pair differences in fast-food consumption and BMI among DZ twins, suggesting that genetic factors play a role in the observed association. Thus, although variance in fast-food consumption itself is largely driven by environmental factors, the overall association between this specific eating behavior and BMI is largely due to genetic factors.
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Details
- Title
- Associations Between Fast-Food Consumption and Body Mass Index: A Cross-Sectional Study in Adult Twins
- Creators
- Hannah Cohen-Cline - Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USARichard Lau - Nutritional Sciences Program, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USAAnne V Moudon - Urban Form Laboratory, Department of Urban Design and Planning, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USAEric Turkheimer - Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USAGlen E Duncan - Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Publication Details
- Twin research and human genetics, Vol.18(4), pp.375-382
- Academic Unit
- Nutrition and Exercise Physiology, Department of
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press; Cambridge, UK
- Number of pages
- 8
- Identifiers
- 99900547112301842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article