Affiliation:
1. Department of Psychiatry University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill North Carolina USA
2. Department of Psychology and Neuroscience University of Colorado Boulder Boulder Colorado USA
3. Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado Boulder Boulder Colorado USA
4. Department of Community, Family, and Addiction Sciences Texas Tech University Lubbock Texas USA
Abstract
ABSTRACTObjectivePediatric loss‐of‐control (LOC) eating is associated with high BMI and predicts binge‐eating disorder and obesity onset with age. Research on the etiology of this common comorbidity has not explored the potential for shared genetic risk. This study examined genetic and environmental influences on LOC eating and its shared influence with BMI.MethodParticipants were 499 monozygotic and 398 same‐sex dizygotic twins (age = 17.38 years ± 0.67, BMIz = 0.03 ± 1.03, 54% female) from the Colorado Center for Antisocial Drug Dependence Study. LOC eating was assessed dichotomously. Self‐reported height and weight were converted to BMIz. Univariate and bivariate twin models estimated genetic and environmental influences on LOC eating and BMIz.ResultsMore girls (21%) than boys (9%, p < 0.001) reported LOC eating. The phenotypic correlation with BMIz was 0.03 in girls and 0.18 in boys. Due to the nonsignificant phenotypic correlation in girls, bivariate twin models were fit in boys only. Across all models, the best‐fitting model included genetic and unique environmental effects. Genetic factors accounted for 0.51 (95% CI: 0.23, 0.73) of the variance of LOC eating in girls and 0.54 (0.18, 0.90) in boys. The genetic correlation between LOC eating and BMIz in boys was 0.45 (0.15, 0.75).DiscussionFindings indicate moderate heritability of LOC eating in adolescence, while emphasizing the role of unique environmental factors. In boys, LOC eating and BMIz share a proportion of their genetic influences.
Funder
National Institute on Drug Abuse
National Institute on Aging
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development