BioOne.org will be down briefly for maintenance on 17 December 2024 between 18:00-22:00 Pacific Time US. We apologize for any inconvenience.
How to translate text using browser tools
1 April 2012 Association among Obesity-Related Anthropometric Phenotypes: Analyzing Genetic and Environmental Contribution
Aline Jelenkovic, Esther Rebato
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Obesity has become a public-health and policy problem in many parts of the world. Epidemiological and population studies in this field are usually based on different anthropometric measures; however, common genetic and environmental factors between these phenotypes have been scarcely studied. The objective of this article is to assess the strength of these factors on the covariation among a large set of obesity-related traits. The subject group consisted of 533 nuclear families living in the Greater Bilbao (Spain), and included 1,702 individuals aged 2–61 years. Detailed anthropometric measurements (stature, breadths, circumferences and skinfolds) were carried out in each subject. Bivariate quantitative genetic analyses were performed using a variance-components procedure implemented in the software SOLAR. The results revealed that the majority of these traits is affected by common genetic and environmental factors. All correlations were significantly different from 1 and varied from non-significant to very high (>0.90, P < 0.0001), with clearly lower pleiotropic effects among pairs including fat-distribution traits. Despite the strong common genetic effects detected among phenotypes determining the amount of body fat and mass, there is a residual genetic influence on the local fatness measures that cannot be explained exclusively by the genetic influence on overall fatness. Moreover, the observed relationships confirm a partially different genetic control of truncal and peripheral fat. In conclusion, our findings highlight the relevance of considering different types of traits in the prevention and treatment of obesity, as well as in the search for genes involved in its development.

© 2012 Wayne State University Press, Detroit, Michigan 48201-1309.
Aline Jelenkovic and Esther Rebato "Association among Obesity-Related Anthropometric Phenotypes: Analyzing Genetic and Environmental Contribution," Human Biology 84(2), 127-137, (1 April 2012). https://doi.org/10.3378/027.084.0202
Received: 11 December 2011; Accepted: 1 February 2012; Published: 1 April 2012
KEYWORDS
ANTHROPOMETRY
body fat
body mass
COMMON GENETIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
FAT DISTRIBUTION
NUCLEAR FAMILIES
obesity
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top