Genetic influences on dietary variety - results from a twin study

Benjamin Scheibehenne; Peter M Todd; Stéphanie M van den Berg; Peter K Hatemi; Lindon J Eaves; Christian Vogler

doi:10.1016/j.appet.2014.03.001

Genetic influences on dietary variety - results from a twin study

Appetite. 2014 Jun:77:131-8. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2014.03.001. Epub 2014 Mar 12.

Authors

Benjamin Scheibehenne¹, Peter M Todd², Stéphanie M van den Berg³, Peter K Hatemi⁴, Lindon J Eaves⁵, Christian Vogler⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, University of Basel, Missionsstrasse 62A, 4055 Basel, Switzerland. Electronic address: benjamin.scheibehenne@unibas.ch.
² Cognitive Science Program, Indiana University, 1101 E. 10th Street, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.
³ Department of Research Methodology, Measurement and Data-Analysis, University of Twente, Drienerlolaan 5, 7522 NB Enschede, The Netherlands.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1200 East Broad Street, Richmond, VA 23298-0710, USA.
⁵ Department of Human Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1101 East Marshall Street, Richmond, VA 23298-0033, USA.
⁶ Department of Psychology, Division of Molecular Neuroscience, University of Basel, Birmannsgasse 8, 4055 Basel, Switzerland.

PMID: 24631637
DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2014.03.001

Abstract

The heritability of variety seeking in the food domain was estimated from a large sample (N = 5,543) of middle age to elderly monozygotic and dizygotic twins from the "Virginia 30,000" twin study. Different dietary variety scores were calculated based on a semi-quantitative food choice questionnaire that assessed consumption frequencies and quantities for a list of 99 common foods. Results indicate that up to 30% of the observed variance in dietary variety was explained through heritable influences. Most of the differences between twins were due to environmental influences that are not shared between twins. Additional non-genetic analyses further revealed a weak relationship between dietary variety and particular demographic variables, including socioeconomic status, age, sex, religious faith, and the number of people living in the same household.

Keywords: Bayesian statistics; Food choice; Variety seeking.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Twin Study

MeSH terms

Adult
Aged
Diet*
Environment*
Feeding Behavior*
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Twins, Dizygotic*
Twins, Monozygotic*
Virginia