Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Paper
  • Published:

Twins and virtual twins: bases of relative body weight revisited

International Journal of Obesity volume 26, pages 437–441 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Application of a new investigative strategy to assess genetic and environmental influences on relative body weight.

DESIGN: Covariance structure analysis of body mass index (BMI) using genetically informative samples.

SUBJECTS: One-hundred and fourteen monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs (age 5.04–22.93 y), 81 dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs (age 6.05–16.52 y), and 98 virtual twin (VT) pairs, ie same-age unrelated siblings (3.68–54.75 y).

MEASUREMENTS: Height, weight, BMI variously obtained by direct measurement and self-report.

RESULTS: In contrast with most previous studies, significant common environmental influence on BMI was observed.

CONCLUSION: Much past research may have underestimated common environmental effects on BMI because the designs lacked the power or ability to detect them.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Heymsfield SB, Allison DB, Heshka S, Pierson RN Jr . Assessment of human body composition. In: Allison DB (ed). Handbook of assessment methods for eating behaviors and weight-related problems Sage: Thousand Oaks, CA 1995 515–560.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Pietrobelli A, Faith MS, Allison DB, Gallagher D, Chiumello G, Heymsfield SB . Evidence for independent genetic influences on fat mass and body mass index in a pediatric twin sample Pediatrics 1998 104: 61–66.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Comuzzie AG, Allison DB . The search for human obesity genes Science 1998 280: 1374–1377.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Maes HHM, Neale MC, Eaves LJ . Genetic and environmental factors in relative body weight and human adiposity Behav Genet 1997 27: 325–351.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Garrow, JS, Webster, J . Quetelet's index (W/H2) as a measure of fatness Int J Obes 1985 9: 147–153.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Boston BA, Blaydon KM, Varnerin J, Cone RD . Independent and additive effects of central POMC and leptin pathways on murine obesity Science 1997 278: 1641–1644.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Barsh GS, Farooqi IS, O'Rahilly S . Genetics of body-weight regulation Nature 2000 404: 644–651.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Hill JO, Peters JC . Environmental contributions to the obesity epidemic Science 1998 280: 1371–1374.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Sorensen TIA, Stunkard AJ . Overview of the adoption studies. In: Bouchard C (ed). The genetics of obesity CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL 1994 49–61.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Koeppen-Schomerus G, Wardle J, Plomin R . A genetic analysis of weight and overweight in 4-year-old twin pairs Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 2001 25: 838–844.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Grilo CM, Pogue-Geile MF . The nature of environmental influences on weight and obesity: a behavior genetic analysis Psychol Bull 1991 110: 520–537.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Anand A, Chada K . In vivo modulation of Hmgic reduces obesity Nature Genet 2000 24: 377–380.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Erickson JC, Hollopeter G, Palmiter RD . Attenuation of the obesity syndrome of ob/ob mice by the loss of neuropeptide Y Science 1996 274: 1704–1707.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Segal NL . Entwined lives: twins and what they tell us about human behavior Plume: New York 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Holden C . Offbeat twins Science 2000 288: 1735.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Wilson RS . 1986 Twins: genetic influence on growth. In: Malina RM, Bouchard C (eds). Sports and human genetics Human Kinetics: Champaign, IL; 1986 1–21.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Segal NL . Same-age unrelated siblings: a unique test of within-family environmental influences on IQ similarity J Educ Psychol 1997 89: 381–390.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Segal NL . Virtual twins: new findings on within-family environmental influences on intelligence J Educ Psychol 2000 92: 442–448.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Segal NL . Cooperation, competition and altruism within twin sets: a reappraisal Ethol Sociobiol 1984 5: 163–177.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Segal NL, Russell J . IQ similarity in monozygotic and dizygotic twin children: effects of the same versus separate examiners: a research note J Child Psychol Psychiat 1991 32: 703–708.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Nichols RC, Bilbro WC Jr . The diagnosis of twin zygosity Acta Genet Stat Med 1966 16: 265–275.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. McGue M, Bouchard TJ Jr . Adjustment of twin data for the effects of age and sex Behav Genet 1984 14: 325–343.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Neale MC, Cardon LR . Methodology for genetic studies of twins and families Kluwer Academic Publishers: Dorchrect 1992.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  24. Efron B . The jackknife, the bootstrap and other resampling plans Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics: Philadelphia 1982.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  25. Puri ML, Sen PK . Nonparametric statistics in multivariate analysis Wiley: New York 1971.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Cockett NE, Jackson SP, Shay TL, Farnir F, Berghmans S, Snowder GD, Nielsen DM, Georges M . Polar overdominance at the Ovine callipyge locus Science 1996 273: 236–238.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Chua SC Jr . Monogenic models of obesity Behav Genet 1997 27: 277–284.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Wagner GP, Laubichler MD, Bagheri-Chaichian H . Genetic measurement of theory of epistatic effects Genetica 1998 102–103: 569–580.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Kissebah AH, Sonnenberg GE, Myklebust J, Goldstein M, Broman K, James RG, Marks JA, Krakower GR, Jacob HJ, Weber J, Martin L, Blangero J, Comuzzie AG . Quantitative trait loci on chromosomes 3 and 17 influence phenotypes of the metabolic syndrome Proc Natl Acad Sci 1997 97: 14478–14483.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported, in part, by NSF grants BNS-7902583, BNS-8709207 and SBR-9712875, a Stipend for Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity from California State University, Fullerton (Segal) and NIH grants R01DK51716 and P30DK26687 (Allison). Dr Shirley McGuire critiqued an early version of this paper and Samantha Etchells and Karen Nelson provided research assistance.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology and Twin Studies Center, California State University, Fullerton, California, USA

    NL Segal

  2. Department of Biostatistics and Clinical Nutrition Research Center, Section on Statistical Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham Birmingham, Alabama, USA

    DB Allison

Authors
  1. NL Segal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. DB Allison
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to NL Segal.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Segal, N., Allison, D. Twins and virtual twins: bases of relative body weight revisited. Int J Obes 26, 437–441 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0801941

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0801941

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links