Eating: genes versus environment

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

To what extent are our eating patterns the subjects

of our gene and our environmental control factors?

The not yet in Medline, pdf-available below appears to

indicate that genes play a large role.

The data of Table 2 appeared to be a " What's what " list

of the dietary conundrums that may be put before CRers.

For example, there is:

" Do you go on eating binges though you're not hungry?

Genes: 0.02. Environment: 0.22 " .

It is a losing proposition to attempt to overcome binges?

Worse, was:

" I start to eat when I feel anxious. –0.01 0.22 " .

Better, was:

" If I feel nervous, I try to calm down by eating. 0.08 0.27 " .

Sanna Tholin, Finn Rasmussen, Per Tynelius, and Jan Karlsson

Genetic and environmental influences on eating behavior: the Swedish

Young Male Twins Study

Am J Clin Nutr 2005 81: 564-569.

TABLE 1 Age and body size of dizygotic and monozygotic twins1

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---------------------Di Mono

----------------------------------------------------------------------

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Age (y) 25.7 ± 0.11 [652] 25.8 ± 0.09 [912]

Height (cm) 181.0 ± 0.30 [652] 180.4 ± 0.31 [912]

Weight (kg) 78.5 ± 0.48 [652] 76.8 ± 0.472 [912]

BMI (kg/m2) 24.0 ± 0.14 [652] 23.6 ± 0.133 [912]

Waist circumference (cm) 86.1 ± 0.43 [612] 85.0 ± 0.353 [856]

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1 All values are ± SEE; n in brackets.

2 Significantly different from dizygotic twins (t test): P = 0.01,

3 Significantly different from dizygotic twins (t test): P 0.05.

TABLE 2 Within-twin-pair Spearman correlations of the eating

behavior items on the 3 scales of the revised 21-item version of the

Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire

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------------------------------------Di Mono

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----------

Cognitive restraint scale score 0.14 (0.03, 0.25)1 0.55 (0.48, 0.62)

I deliberately take small helpings to control my weight. 0.11

0.35

I consciously hold back at meals to keep from gaining weight.

0.18 0.46

I don't eat some foods because they make me fat. 0.11 0.43

How often do you avoid " stocking up " on tempting foods? 0.07 0.26

How likely are you to make an effort to eat less than you want?

0.06 0.37

On a scale of 1 to 8, where 1 means no restraint in eating and 8

means total restraint, what number would you give yourself? 0.15 0.40

Emotional eating scale score 0.10 (–0.01, 0.21) 0.36 (0.28, 0.45)

I start to eat when I feel anxious. –0.01 0.22

When I feel sad, I often eat too much. 0.05 0.28

When I feel tense or " wound up, " I often feel a need to eat. –

0.01 0.19

When I feel lonely, I console myself by eating. 0.12 0.28

If I feel nervous, I try to calm down by eating. 0.08 0.27

When I feel downhearted and depressed, I want to eat. 0.12 0.31

Uncontrolled eating scale score 0.10 (–0.01, 0.21) 0.43 (0.35, 0.51)

When I smell a sizzling steak or a juicy piece of meat, I find it

very difficult to keep from eating, even if I've just finished a

meal. 0.07 0.35

Sometimes when I start eating, I just can't seem to stop. 0.12

0.32

Being with someone who is eating often makes me want also to

eat. –0.04 0.31

When I see something that looks very delicious, I often get so

hungry that I have to eat right away. 0.06 0.36

I often get so hungry that my stomach seems like a bottomless

pit. –0.01 0.17

I'm always so hungry that it's hard for me to stop eating before

I finish the food on my plate. 0.05 0.18

I'm always hungry enough to eat at any time. 0.04 0.23

How often do you feel hungry? 0.09 0.28

Do you go on eating binges though you're not hungry? 0.02 0.22

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1 95% CI in parentheses (all such values).

TABLE 3 The genetic and environmental components of the 3 eating

behavior scales as estimated by structural equation modeling1

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Eating behavior scales Best fitting model2 (A)2 (D)2 (E)2 (A+D)2

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Cognitive restraint ADE 0.00 (0.00, 0.43) 0.59 (0.15, 0.66) 0.41

(0.34, 0.48) 0.59 (0.52, 0.66)

Emotional eating ADE 0.60 (0.24, 0.67) 0.00 (0.00, 0.37) 0.40 (0.33,

0.48) 0.60 (0.52, 0.67)

Uncontrolled eating ADE 0.00 (0.00, 0.47) 0.45 (0.00, 0.53) 0.55

(0.47, 0.64) 0.45 (0.36, 0.53)

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1 95% CI in parentheses.

2 Model with additive genetic factors (A), nonadditive genetic

factors (D), nonshared environmental factors (E) and heritability (A

+ D).

Al Pater.