title: Genetic influences on dietary variety - results from a twin study.
abstract: The heritability of variety seeking in the food domain was estimated from a large sample (N = 5,543) of middle age to elderly monozygotic and dizygotic twins from the "Virginia 30,000" twin study. Different dietary variety scores were calculated based on a semi-quantitative food choice questionnaire that assessed consumption frequencies and quantities for a list of 99 common foods. Results indicate that up to 30% of the observed variance in dietary variety was explained through heritable influences. Most of the differences between twins were due to environmental influences that are not shared between twins. Additional non-genetic analyses further revealed a weak relationship between dietary variety and particular demographic variables, including socioeconomic status, age, sex, religious faith, and the number of people living in the same household.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Basel, Missionsstrasse 62A, 4055 Basel, Switzerland. Electronic address: benjamin.scheibehenne@unibas.ch.
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Scheibehenne
authors.affiliation: Cognitive Science Program, Indiana University, 1101 E. 10th Street, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.
authors.forename: Peter M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Todd
authors.affiliation: Department of Research Methodology, Measurement and Data-Analysis, University of Twente, Drienerlolaan 5, 7522 NB Enschede, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Stéphanie M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: van den Berg
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1200 East Broad Street, Richmond, VA 23298-0710, USA.
authors.forename: Peter K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Hatemi
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1101 East Marshall Street, Richmond, VA 23298-0033, USA.
authors.forename: Lindon J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Eaves
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Division of Molecular Neuroscience, University of Basel, Birmannsgasse 8, 4055 Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vogler
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004032:Diet; D004777:Environment; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014429:Twins, Dizygotic; D014430:Twins, Monozygotic; D014768:Virginia
keywords: Bayesian statistics; Food choice; Variety seeking