Project Grow-2-Gether: a study of the genetic and environmental influences on child eating and obesity.
"Project Grow-2-Gether" is a child nutrition study of same-sex, 3- to 7-year-old monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs. The study attempts to bridge two bodies of literature that have rarely interfaced with respect to obesity and ingestive behavior: the first being behavioral genetic approaches to obesity-related traits, and the second being developmental approaches focusing on parent-child relationships. The overarching aim of Project Grow-2-Gether is to disentangle genetic from potential home-environmental influences on child eating behavior and body fat. This paper reviews the rationale for Project Grow-2-Gether, its procedures, and core phenotypic measurement battery. A focus of the study is acquisition of controlled food intake measurements obtained in the laboratory, measurement of specific home environmental variables, and multi-method evaluation of parent-child feeding relations. Future directions may involve longitudinal assessment of child growth and molecular analyses for specific genes that influence child eating behavior.
Faith
Myles S
MS
Weight and Eating Disorders Program, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia 19104, USA. faith@mail.med.upenn.edu
Keller
Kathleen L
KL
Matz
Patty
P
Johnson
Susan L
SL
Lewis
Rebecca
R
Jorge
Marie Alexandra
MA
Ridley
Clare
C
Han
Helen
H
Must
Shoshanna
S
Heo
Moonseong
M
Pietrobelli
Angelo
A
Heymsfield
Steven B
SB
Allison
David B
DB
D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon; D000886:Anthropometry; D001823:Body Composition; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004034:Diet Surveys; D004200:Diseases in Twins / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics*; D002149:Energy Intake; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D004777:Environment; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D009765:Obesity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology*; D010287:Parent-Child Relations / Q000208:ethnology; D010641:Phenotype; D010992:Plethysmography, Impedance; D002666:Psychology, Child; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014743:Videotape Recording