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Genetic effects on weight change and food intake in Swedish adult twins^1,2,3

Background: Obesity is influenced by genetic and environmental factors. Additionally, synergistic effects of genes and environments may be important in the development of obesity.

Objective: The aim of this study was to test for genetic effects on food consumption frequency, food preferences, and their interaction with subsequent weight gain.

Design: Complete data on the frequencies of consumption of 11 foods typical of the Swedish diet were available for 98 monozygotic and 176 dizygotic twin pairs aged 25–59 y who are part of the Swedish Twin Registry. The data were collected in 1973 as part of a questionnaire study. Body mass index was measured in 1973 and again in 1984.

Results: There was some evidence that genetic effects influenced the frequency of intake of some foods. Similarity among monozygotic twins exceeded that among dizygotic twins for intake of flour and grain products and fruit in men and women, intake of milk in men, and intake of vegetables and rice in women, suggesting that genes influence preferences for these foods. Analyses conducted for twins reared together and apart also suggested greater monozygotic than dizygotic correlations, but cross-twin, cross-trait correlations were all insignificant, suggesting that the genes that affect consumption frequencies are not responsible for mediating the relation between the frequency of intake and weight change.

Conclusions: Genetic effects and the frequency of intake are independently related to change in body mass index. However, there was no suggestion of differential genetic effects on weight gain that were dependent on the consumption frequency of the foods studied.

Key Words: Weight change • monozygotic twins • dizygotic twins • gene-environment interactions • food consumption • obesity • food preferences • weight gain • Swedish Twin Registry

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