Dietary intake of young twins: nature or nurture?

ABSTRACT:

Background

The early years in life are increasingly recognized as a critical period for the development of diet-related behavioral traits. However, discussions continue on the relative role of genes and the environment in determining dietary intake, particularly in young children for whom detailed dietary information is limited.

Objectives

This study tested the hypothesis that diet in early childhood is primarily determined by the environment rather than by genes. A secondary aim was to characterize the early childhood diet.

Design

A classic twin design used 3-d dietary data collected at age 21 mo from the Gemini cohort. From the full sample of 2402 families with twins, dietary diaries were available for 1216 twin pairs (384 monozygotic and 832 dizygotic pairs) after

SUBMITTER: Pimpin L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3798084 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature