title: Project Grow-2-Gether: a study of the genetic and environmental influences on child eating and obesity.
abstract: "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.
authors.affiliation: Weight and Eating Disorders Program, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia 19104, USA. faith@mail.med.upenn.edu
authors.forename: Myles S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Faith
authors.forename: Kathleen L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Keller
authors.forename: Patty
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Matz
authors.forename: Susan L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.forename: Marie Alexandra
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Jorge
authors.forename: Clare
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ridley
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Shoshanna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Must
authors.forename: Moonseong
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Heo
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pietrobelli
authors.forename: Steven B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Heymsfield
authors.forename: David B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Allison
mesh_terms: 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