1334Appetitive behaviors in school-age and their genetic and environmental predisposition

Abstract

Abstract Background Given the great variability in adiposity and the exposure to obesogenic food environments, it has been suggested that individuals respond in divergent ways to the environment they live in. Our aim was to explore the genetic and environmental contribution of variations on appetitive behaviors in 10-year-old Portuguese children. Methods Participants were twins from the Generation XXI cohort (n = 86 pairs). Appetitive behaviors at 10 years was assessed through the Children Eating Behavior Questionnaire. Intra-class correlations for appetitive behaviors were calculated for monozygotic and dizygotic twins, and structural equation modelling was conducted to estimate genetic (A), shared (C) and non-shared (E) environmental variances. Results Twins were mainly dizygotic (65%), and a third was classified as having excess weight (30.2%). For all appetitive behaviors, with exception to Emotional Undereating, moderate to strong heritability were found 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). Conclusions There is a significant genetic contribution, followed by non-shared environmental effects, on appetitive behaviors in school-age years. Results indicate that Emotional Undereating was not heritable, being explained by shared and non-shared environmental factors. Key messages Appetitive behaviors among 10-year-olds seem to be genetically determined, with exception to Emotional Undereating, which showed to be explained by environmental factors. Understanding which genes are associated with child appetitive behaviors would give an insight in biological and behavioral influences on child eating and obesity risk.