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Heritability is a statistical concept that measures the degree to which genetic differences among individuals contribute to trait variations within a population. It is a fundamental idea in genetics, often prone to misinterpretation. Heritability is expressed as a percentage, reflecting the proportion of variation in a specific trait across a population that can be linked to genetic differences. However, it's important to understand that heritability does not determine how "genetic"...
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Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
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The heritability of body composition.

Avivit Brener1,2, Yarden Waksman3,4, Talya Rosenfeld3,4,5

  • 1Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes Unit, Dana-Dwek Children's Hospital, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel. avivitb@tlvmc.gov.il.

BMC Pediatrics
|May 9, 2021
PubMed
Summary

Genetic factors influence childhood body composition, with heritable traits observed in children but not adolescents. Environmental factors play a more significant role in teenage body composition development.

Keywords:
BioimpedanceBody compositionChildren and adolescentsHeritabilityPuberty

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Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Endocrinology
  • Human Genetics
  • Body Composition Analysis

Background:

  • Physical growth in children and adolescents is influenced by genetic and environmental factors.
  • Heritability has been established for stature and weight status.
  • This study investigates the heritability of body composition in children and adolescents.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the heritability of body composition traits in children and adolescents.
  • To identify potential genetic influences on body composition parameters.
  • To understand the interplay between genetics and environment in shaping body composition during growth.

Main Methods:

  • Observational study of 114 triads (children/adolescents and parents) referred to an endocrine unit.
  • Bioimpedance analysis (BIA) used to assess fat mass, fat percentage, truncal fat percentage, and muscle mass.
  • Calculation of appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASMM), muscle-to-fat ratio (MFR), and sarcopenic index (SI).

Main Results:

  • Significant sex differences in body composition parameters were observed in both prepubertal and pubertal subjects.
  • Heritable correlations for sarcopenic index were found between prepubertal children and their parents.
  • Adiposity indices showed heritable correlations between prepubertal boys and their mothers; no adolescent-parent associations were found.
  • Socioeconomic position impacted fat percentage in adolescent girls and mothers.

Conclusions:

  • Body composition traits demonstrate heritability in childhood.
  • Heritability of body composition is not evident in adolescence.
  • Environmental influences appear to have a greater impact on body composition during teenage years.