title: Associations Between Fast-Food Consumption and Body Mass Index: A Cross-Sectional Study in Adult Twins.
abstract: Obesity is a substantial health problem in the United States, and is associated with many chronic diseases. Previous studies have linked poor dietary habits to obesity. This cross-sectional study aimed to identify the association between body mass index (BMI) and fast-food consumption among 669 same-sex adult twin pairs residing in the Puget Sound region around Seattle, Washington. We calculated twin-pair correlations for BMI and fast-food consumption. We next regressed BMI on fast-food consumption using generalized estimating equations (GEE), and finally estimated the within-pair difference in BMI associated with a difference in fast-food consumption, which controls for all potential genetic and environment characteristics shared between twins within a pair. Twin-pair correlations for fast-food consumption were similar for identical (monozygotic; MZ) and fraternal (dizygotic; DZ) twins, but were substantially higher in MZ than DZ twins for BMI. In the unadjusted GEE model, greater fast-food consumption was associated with larger BMI. For twin pairs overall, and for MZ twins, there was no association between within-pair differences in fast-food consumption and BMI in any model. In contrast, there was a significant association between within-pair differences in fast-food consumption and BMI among DZ twins, suggesting that genetic factors play a role in the observed association. Thus, although variance in fast-food consumption itself is largely driven by environmental factors, the overall association between this specific eating behavior and BMI is largely due to genetic factors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology,School of Public Health,University of Washington,Seattle,WA,USA.
authors.forename: Hannah
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cohen-Cline
authors.affiliation: Nutritional Sciences Program,University of Washington,Seattle,WA,USA.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.affiliation: Urban Form Laboratory,Department of Urban Design and Planning,University of Washington,Seattle,WA,USA.
authors.forename: Anne V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Moudon
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology,University of Virginia,Charlottesville,VA,USA.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Turkheimer
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology,School of Public Health,University of Washington,Seattle,WA,USA.
authors.forename: Glen E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Duncan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology; D014429:Twins, Dizygotic / Q000235:genetics; D014430:Twins, Monozygotic / Q000235:genetics; D014481:United States; D014861:Washington
keywords: body mass index; fast-food consumption; generalized estimating equations; twin studies