title: Twin's Birth-Order Differences in Height and Body Mass Index From Birth to Old Age: A Pooled Study of 26 Twin Cohorts Participating in the CODATwins Project.
abstract: We analyzed birth order differences in means and variances of height and body mass index (BMI) in monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins from infancy to old age. The data were derived from the international CODATwins database. The total number of height and BMI measures from 0.5 to 79.5 years of age was 397,466. As expected, first-born twins had greater birth weight than second-born twins. With respect to height, first-born twins were slightly taller than second-born twins in childhood. After adjusting the results for birth weight, the birth order differences decreased and were no longer statistically significant. First-born twins had greater BMI than the second-born twins over childhood and adolescence. After adjusting the results for birth weight, birth order was still associated with BMI until 12 years of age. No interaction effect between birth order and zygosity was found. Only limited evidence was found that birth order influenced variances of height or BMI. The results were similar among boys and girls and also in MZ and DZ twins. Overall, the differences in height and BMI between first- and second-born twins were modest even in early childhood, while adjustment for birth weight reduced the birth order differences but did not remove them for BMI.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Nursing,Osaka City University,Osaka,Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yokoyama
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Research,University of Helsinki,Helsinki,Finland.
authors.forename: Aline
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jelenkovic
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Research,University of Helsinki,Helsinki,Finland.
authors.forename: Reijo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sund
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology,School of Public Health,Seoul National University,Seoul,Korea.
authors.forename: Joohon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sung
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology,School of Public Health,Seoul National University,Seoul,Korea.
authors.forename: John L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Hopper
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Science,Ishikawa Prefectural Nursing University,Kahoku,Ishikawa,Japan.
authors.forename: Syuichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ooki
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health,University of Helsinki,Helsinki,Finland.
authors.forename: Kauko
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authors.lastname: Heikkilä
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Research,University of Helsinki,Helsinki,Finland.
authors.forename: Sari
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authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Oncotherapy,Semmelweis University,Budapest,Hungary.
authors.forename: Adam D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Tarnoki
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Oncotherapy,Semmelweis University,Budapest,Hungary.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Psychology,VU University Amsterdam,Amsterdam,the Netherlands.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Psychology,VU University Amsterdam,Amsterdam,the Netherlands.
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authors.initials: TL
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authors.initials: KE
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authors.affiliation: Health Behaviour Research Centre,Department of Epidemiology and Public Health,Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care,University College London,London,UK.
authors.forename: Jane
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authors.affiliation: Health Behaviour Research Centre,Department of Epidemiology and Public Health,Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care,University College London,London,UK.
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authors.forename: Abigail
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authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology,Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center,Sun Yat-sen University,Guangzhou,China.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology,School of Public Health,Seoul National University,Seoul,Korea.
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authors.forename: Hoe-Uk
authors.initials: HU
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authors.affiliation: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem,Jerusalem,Israel.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Human Anatomy and Psychobiology,University of Murcia,Murcia,Spain.
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authors.forename: Juan F
authors.initials: JF
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authors.affiliation: Norwegian Institute of Public Health,Oslo,Norway.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Noncommunicable Diseases Prevention,Qingdao Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,Qingdao,China.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Noncommunicable Diseases Prevention,Qingdao Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,Qingdao,China.
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authors.affiliation: Genetic Epidemiology Department,QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute,Brisbane,Queensland,Australia.
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authors.affiliation: Molecular Epidemiology Department,QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute,Brisbane,Queensland,Australia.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics,Karolinska Institutet,Stockholm,Sweden.
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mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001722:Birth Order; D001827:Body Height / Q000235:genetics*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011247:Pregnancy; D059285:Pregnancy, Twin / Q000235:genetics*; D014429:Twins, Dizygotic; D014430:Twins, Monozygotic
keywords: BMI; birth order; height; zygosity