Common etiological architecture underlying reward responsiveness, externally driven eating behaviors, and BMI in childhood: findings from the Gemini twin cohort.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Studies have reported that impulsivity predicts childhood BMI and that the association is mediated by eating behaviors. One aspect of impulsivity-potentially crucial in the obesity context-is reward responsiveness, which may predispose to responsiveness to palatable food cues. The behavioral susceptibility theory hypothesizes that genetic susceptibility to obesity operates partly via genetically determined differences in appetite regulation. Reward responsiveness may therefore be one of the neuro-endophenotypes that mediates genetic susceptibility to obesity.

Objective

To test whether reward responsiveness, eating behaviors, and child BMI share common genetic architecture.

Methods

We examined reward responsiveness, eating behaviors, and BMI in 5-year-old ch

SUBMITTER: Kan C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7610375 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature