Consideration of the canalisation effect based on physical factors of mothers and their children

Abstract

The canalisation effect refers to the finding that there is less variance from one’s genetically predisposed growth in girls than in boys. In this study, the canalisation effect was confirmed by measuring not only the physique of parents and children but also their body composition, and the relationship between body composition of parents and children was investigated. The subjects were 56 mothers aged in their 20s to 40s and their 56 children (boys 29, girls 27). Physique, body composition and bone mineral density were measured in 56 mothers and their children. The influence of age was controlled so that a correlation analysis between children and mothers was possible with the cross-sectional data used in the present study. A correlation analysis between mothers and their children was also conducted with estimated values that were controlled for age. As a result, in the relationship between sons and mothers, significant correlations were seen in height and soft lean mass (SLM), while in the relation between daughters and mothers, significant correlations were seen in everything but bone mineral density; that is, in height, weight, bone mass, SLM, fat mass and body fat percentage. In the relationship between sons and mothers, the correlation in height was strong.