title: Heritability variations of body linearity and obesity indicators during growth.
abstract: Longitudinal as well as cross-sectional studies have shown variations with age in heritability estimates for body dimensions from infancy to adulthood, even though the patterns of variation are not completely clear. Further study on this subject is of great interest and may help obesity interventions for preventing or treating obesity in children. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to analyse the changes in the genetic and environmental architecture of 8 body linearity and obesity-related phenotypes during the growth process in a cross-sectional sample of 1018 nuclear families from the province of Biscay (Basque Country, Spain). The contribution of additive genetic effects to the variation of the analysed traits was estimated by a variance component analysis using the SOLAR program. Moderate to high heritability estimates were obtained for all 8 anthropometric phenotypes (38.23-65.98%). The heritability values show an increasing trend with age and in the course of the entire ontogenetic development two age periods were remarkable. At 7(+)-8(+) years of age a strong increase in heritability estimates was found for all the anthropometric phenotypes, except for the sum of skinfolds (SF6), reflecting the biological significance of genes during mid-childhood. During puberty, most of the obesity related phenotypes showed their highest heritability values while linear measurements and weight presented a decrease in the genetic contributions. In conclusion, this study confirms that additive genetic influences have a considerable effect on body linearity and obesity-related traits throughout the growth period and that mid-childhood and puberty are very sensitive periods in human life cycle.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Physical Anthropology and Animal Physiology, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the Basque Country, Bilbao 48080, Spain. alaitz.poveda@ehu.es
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Poveda
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jelenkovic
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Salces
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Ibañez
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rebato
mesh_terms: D050154:Adiposity / Q000235:genetics; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001827:Body Height / Q000235:genetics*; D001835:Body Weight / Q000235:genetics*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D059647:Gene-Environment Interaction; D048788:Growth and Development / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000235:genetics*; D010641:Phenotype; D011627:Puberty / Q000235:genetics; D013030:Spain; D055815:Young Adult