Abstract
Emotional overeating (EOE) is the tendency to eat more in response to negative emotions; its etiology in early life is unknown. We established the relative genetic and environmental influences on EOE in toddlerhood and early childhood. Data were from Gemini, a population-based cohort of 2,402 British twins born in 2007. EOE was measured using the "emotional overeating" scale of the Child Eating Behavior Questionnaire (CEBQ) at 16months and 5years. A longitudinal quantitative genetic model established that genetic influences on EOE were minimal; on the other hand, shared environmental influences explained most of the variance. EOE was moderately stable from 16months to 5years and continuing environmental factors shared by twin pairs at both ages explained the longitudinal association.
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