title: Food neophobia shows heritable variation in humans.
abstract: Food neophobia refers to reluctance to eat unfamiliar foods. We determined the heritability of food neophobia in a family and a twin sample. The family sample consisted of 28 Finnish families (105 females, 50 males, aged 18-78 years, mean age 49 years) and the twin sample of 468 British female twin pairs (211 monozygous and 257 dizygous pairs, aged 17-82 years, mean age 55 years). Food neophobia was measured using the ten-item Food Neophobia Scale (FNS) questionnaire, and its internationally validated six-item modification. The heritability estimate for food neophobia was 69 and 66% in Finnish families (h(2)) and 67 and 66% in British female twins (a(2)+d(2)) using the ten- and six-item versions of the FNS, respectively. The results from both populations suggest that about two thirds of variation in food neophobia is genetically determined.
authors: Department of Food Technology, University of Helsinki, FI-00014, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland. antti.knaapila@helsinki.fi
authors: Antti
authors: A
authors: Knaapila
authors: Hely
authors: H
authors: Tuorila
authors: Karri
authors: K
authors: Silventoinen
authors: Kaisu
authors: K
authors: Keskitalo
authors: Mikko
authors: M
authors: Kallela
authors: Maija
authors: M
authors: Wessman
authors: Leena
authors: L
authors: Peltonen
authors: Lynn F
authors: LF
authors: Cherkas
authors: Tim D
authors: TD
authors: Spector
authors: Markus
authors: M
authors: Perola
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002755:Choice Behavior; D004435:Eating / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000523:psychology*; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008957:Models, Genetic; D010375:Pedigree; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology; D019655:Quantitative Trait, Heritable; D012016:Reference Values; D014429:Twins, Dizygotic; D014430:Twins, Monozygotic