| 1. |
- Jelenkovic, Aline, et al.
(författare)
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Zygosity Differences in Height and Body Mass Index of Twins From Infancy to Old Age : A Study of the CODATwins Project
- 2015
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Ingår i: Twin Research and Human Genetics. - : Cambridge University Press. - 1832-4274 .- 1839-2628. ; 18:5, s. 557-570
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A trend toward greater body size in dizygotic (DZ) than in monozygotic (MZ) twins has been suggested by some but not all studies, and this difference may also vary by age. We analyzed zygosity differences in mean values and variances of height and body mass index (BMI) among male and female twins from infancy to old age. Data were derived from an international database of 54 twin cohorts participating in the COllaborative project of Development of Anthropometrical measures in Twins (CODATwins), and included 842,951 height and BMI measurements from twins aged 1 to 102 years. The results showed that DZ twins were consistently taller than MZ twins, with differences of up to 2.0 cm in childhood and adolescence and up to 0.9 cm in adulthood. Similarly, a greater mean BMI of up to 0.3 kg/m(2) in childhood and adolescence and up to 0.2 kg/m(2) in adulthood was observed in DZ twins, although the pattern was less consistent. DZ twins presented up to 1.7% greater height and 1.9% greater BMI than MZ twins; these percentage differences were largest in middle and late childhood and decreased with age in both sexes. The variance of height was similar in MZ and DZ twins at most ages. In contrast, the variance of BMI was significantly higher in DZ than in MZ twins, particularly in childhood. In conclusion, DZ twins were generally taller and had greater BMI than MZ twins, but the differences decreased with age in both sexes.
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| 2. |
- Bogl, Leonie H, et al.
(författare)
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Like me, like you - relative importance of peers and siblings on children's fast food consumption and screen time but not sports club participation depends on age.
- 2020
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Ingår i: The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1479-5868. ; 17:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Lifestyle interventions to prevent paediatric obesity often target family and peer settings; their success is likely to depend on the influence that peers and families exert on children's lifestyle behaviors at different developmental stages.First, to determine whether children's lifestyle behavior more closely resembles their peers' or siblings' behaviors. Secondly, to investigate longitudinally whether children's behavioral change is predicted by that of their peers or their siblings as they grow older.The European prospective IDEFICS/I.Family cohort (baseline survey: 2007/2008, first follow-up: 2009/2010, and second follow-up: 2013/2014) aims at investigating risk factors for overweight and related behaviors during childhood and adolescence. The present investigation includes 2694 observations of children and their siblings aged 2 to 18years. Peers were defined as same-sex, same-age children in the same community and identified from the full cohort. The longitudinal analysis (mean follow-up time: 3.7years) includes 525sibling pairs. Children's lifestyle behaviors including fast food consumption (frequency/week), screen time (hours/week) and sports club participation (hours/week) were assessed by questionnaire. Data were analyzed using multilevel linear models.Children's lifestyle behavior was associated with the respective behavior of their peers and sibling for all 3 behaviors. For fast food consumption, the peer resemblance was more than 6-fold higher than the sibling resemblance and the peer resemblance surpassed the sibling resemblance by the age of 9-10years. The similarities with peers for fast food consumption and screen time steadily increased, while the similarities with siblings steadily decreased with increasing age of the children (Pinteraction<0.001). In contrast, the relative importance of peers and siblings on sports club duration did not vary by the age of the children. Longitudinal results showed that children's changes in fast food consumption were more strongly associated with those in their peer group than their sibling, in particular if the age gap between siblings was large.In conclusion, our results support the implementation of multi-setting interventions for improving lifestyle behaviors in children. Our findings might also guide future intervention studies in the choice of timing and setting in which interventions are likely to be most effective. From the ages of 9-10years onwards, family- or home-based interventions targeting children's fast food intake and screen time behavior may become less effective than school- or community-based interventions aimed at peer groups.
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| 3. |
- Dello Russo, Marika, et al.
(författare)
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Dietary Diversity and Its Association with Diet Quality and Health Status of European Children, Adolescents, and Adults : Results from the I.Family Study
- 2023
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Ingår i: Foods. - : MDPI. - 2304-8158. ; 12:24
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Dietary diversity (DD) plays a crucial role in fostering high-quality diets, but its association with health outcomes, particularly body adiposity and non-communicable diseases (NCDs), is inconsistent. This may be due to a lack of a standardized method for estimating DD. Our study investigates the association between two DD indices, namely the dietary diversity score (DDS) and food variety score (FVS), and anthropometric measures, biochemical parameters, and diet quality in a large population sample from the I.Family study across research centers in eight European countries. In our cross-sectional analysis of 3035 participants, DDSs varied among countries, with a higher prevalence in the third DDS tertile among those with higher education. DDS showed a positive association with diet quality across all age groups. Higher DDS tertile individuals showed increased fiber, fruit, and vegetable intake, greater meal frequency, and lower ultra-processed food consumption. No relevant biochemical differences were observed across DDS tertiles, and a higher DDS was associated with lower overweight/obesity prevalence only in adults. No significant associations were found with FVS. Our findings emphasize the need to consider food groups for a more accurate estimation of diet quality. This aligns with studies suggesting DDS alone is not an independent risk factor for obesity in children and adolescents. Public health programs should prioritize food diversity to promote improved nutrition and overall well-being in communities.
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| 4. |
- Hur, Yoon-Mi, et al.
(författare)
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Twin Family Registries Worldwide : An Important Resource for Scientific Research
- 2019
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Ingår i: Twin Research and Human Genetics. - : Cambridge University Press. - 1832-4274 .- 1839-2628. ; 22:6, s. 427-437
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Much progress has been made in twin research since our last special issue on twin registries (Hur, Y.-M., & Craig, J. M. (2013). Twin Research and Human Genetics, 16, 1-12.). This special issue provides an update on the state of twin family registries around the world. This issue includes 61 papers on twin family registries from 25 countries, of which 3 describe consortia based on collaborations of several twin family registries. The articles included in this issue discuss the establishment and maintenance of twin registries, recruitment strategies, methods of zygosity assessment, research aims and major findings from twin family cohorts, as well as other important topics related to twin studies. The papers amount to approximately 1.3 million monozygotic, dizygotic twins and higher order multiples and their family members who participate in twin studies around the world. Nine new twin family registries have been established across the world since our last issue, which demonstrates that twin registers are increasingly important in studies of the determinants and correlates of complex traits from disease susceptibility to healthy development.
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| 5. |
- Intemann, Timm, et al.
(författare)
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A Late Meal Timing Pattern Is Associated with Insulin Resistance in European Children and Adolescents
- 2024
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Ingår i: PEDIATRIC DIABETES. - 1399-543X .- 1399-5448. ; 2024
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Meal timing has been associated with metabolic markers in adults, but not in children or adolescents. The aim of this study was to investigate associations of meal timing patterns (MTPs) with insulin resistance (IR) and triglyceride levels in children and adolescents. In this cross-sectional study, we included 2,195 participants aged 8-15 years from the European I.Family study (2013/14). Habitual diet exposures were derived using 24-hr dietary recalls and HOMA-IR, HbA1c, and triglycerides were used as metabolic outcome variables. We applied k-means cluster analysis on five dietary exposures (energy proportion in the morning and evening, eating window, pre-sleep fasting and eating frequency), which revealed the following three MTPs: "early-often", "late-long" and "late-infrequent-short". We used linear mixed models to estimate the associations between MTPs and the z-scores of the metabolic outcome variables. The association analysis revealed differences between MTPs in HOMA-IR but not in HbA1c or triglyceride z-scores. The "late-infrequent-short" pattern was associated with a 0.19 (95%-CI: (0.01, 0.36)) higher HOMA-IR z-score compared to the "early-often" pattern in the model adjusted for age, BMI z-score, education, sex, country, and family membership. These findings suggest that the timing of meals may influence IR already in childhood and adolescence. Therefore, the time of meals should be considered in future nutrition research and dietary advice for children and adolescents.
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| 6. |
- Mehlig, Kirsten, 1964, et al.
(författare)
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Children's propensity to consume sugar and fat predicts regular alcohol consumption in adolescence.
- 2018
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Ingår i: Public health nutrition. - 1475-2727. ; 21:17, s. 3202-3209
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The present study investigated the association between sugar and fat intake in childhood in relation to alcohol use in adolescence. We hypothesized that early exposure to diets high in fat and sugar may affect ingestive behaviours later in life, including alcohol use.Design/Setting/SubjectsChildren from the European IDEFICS/I.Family cohort study were examined at ages 5-9 years and followed up at ages 11-16 years. FFQ were completed by parents on behalf of children, and later by adolescents themselves. Complete data were available in 2263 participants. Children's propensities to consume foods high in fat and sugar were calculated and dichotomized at median values. Adolescents' use of alcohol was classified as at least weekly v. less frequent use. Log-binomial regression linked sugar and fat consumption in childhood to risk of alcohol use in adolescence, adjusted for relevant covariates.Five per cent of adolescents reported weekly alcohol consumption. Children with high propensity to consume sugar and fat were at greater risk of later alcohol use, compared with children with low fat and low sugar propensity (relative risk=2·46; 95 % CI 1·47, 4·12), independent of age, sex and survey country. The association was not explained by parental income and education, strict parenting style or child's health-related quality of life and was only partly mediated by sustained consumption of sugar and fat into adolescence.Frequent consumption of foods high in fat and sugar in childhood predicted regular use of alcohol in adolescence.
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| 7. |
- Mehlig, Kirsten, 1964, et al.
(författare)
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Weight status and BMI-related traits in adolescent friendship groups and role of sociodemographic factors: The european IDEFICS/I.family cohort
- 2021
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Ingår i: Obesity Facts. - : S. Karger AG. - 1662-4025 .- 1662-4033. ; 14:1, s. 121-130
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- © 2020 Background: During adolescence, health behaviors and weight status are increasingly influenced by friendship and peer networks. This paper examines resemblances in weight-related characteristics and how they differ by sociodemographic factors. Methods: Over 3,000 friendships were reported by 1,603 adolescents, aged 11-16 years, who participated in the school-based I.Family study in 6 European countries. Each "source child"named 1-10 friends for whom standardized weight-related traits were available in the same survey. The mean value of the friends' traits weighted by time spent together was calculated, and related to the source child's trait. Country, age and sex of the source child, parental education, and immigrant background were considered for confounding and moderation. Results: Source children's z-scores of body fat percent and BMI were positively associated with their friends' characteristics, in particular if they had highly educated parents. Positive associations were also found regarding the frequency of fast-food consumption, impulsivity, screen time, preference for sugar-sweetened foods, and hours spent in sports clubs, in increasing order of effect size. Additionally, correlations were observed between friends' cognitive and school functioning and being bullied. No associations were seen for a preference for high-fat foods, weight concerns, and health-related quality of life. Finally, parental education and immigrant background were associated between friends in all countries except Sweden, where no associations were observed. Conclusion: Adolescent friends shared a number of weight-related characteristics. For weight measures per se, positive associations with friends' characteristics were only observed in adolescents with high parental education. Associations regarding energy-balance behaviors and indicators of school-related well-being did not differ by parental education. Parental education and immigrant background correlated positively in friends in most countries showing that social aggregation is already occurring in adolescence. The wide spectrum of friendship associations in weight-related traits and behaviors suggests that health promotion initiatives in adolescents should be directed towards peer groups in both school-related and leisure-time environments.
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| 8. |
- Stahlmann, Katharina, et al.
(författare)
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A cross-sectional study of obesogenic behaviours and family rules according to family structure in European children.
- 2020
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Ingår i: The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1479-5868. ; 17:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- There has been an increase in children growing up in non-traditional families, such as single-parent and blended families. Children from such families have a higher prevalence of obesity and poorer health outcomes, but research onthe relationship with obesogenic behaviours is limited.Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate whether there are associations between family structures and obesogenic behaviours and related family rules in European children and adolescents.The sample included 7664 children (mean age±SD: 10.9±2.9) from 4923 families who were participants of the multi-centre I.Family study (2013/2014) conducted in 8 European countries. Family structure was assessed by a detailed interview on kinship and household. Obesogenic behaviours (screen time, sleep duration, consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs)) and family rules (rules for computer and television, bedtime routine, availability of SSBs during meals) were determined by standardized questionnaires. Multilevel mixed-effects linear and logistic regression models were used to model the associations of family structure with obesogenic behaviours and family rules. Sex, age, parental education level, number of children and adults in the household and BMI z-score were covariates in the models. Two-parent biological families were set as the reference category.Children from single-parent families were less likely to have family rules regarding screen time (OR: 0.62, 95% CI: 0.40-0.94, p=0.026) with higher reported hours of screen time per week (β=2.70h/week, 95% CI: 1.39-4.00, p<0.001). The frequency of weekly SSB consumption differed by family structure in a sex-specific manner: girls from single-parent (β=3.19 frequency/week, 95% CI: 0.91-5.47, p=0.006) and boys from blended/adoptive families (β=3.01 frequency/week, 95% CI: 0.99-5.03, p=0.004) consumed more SSBs. Sleep duration, bedtime routines and availability of SSBs during meals did not differ between children from these family structures. Parental education did not modify any of these associations.Parents in non-traditional family structures appear to experience more difficulties in restricting screen time and the intake of SSBs in their children than parents in traditional two-parent family structures. Our findings therefore suggest that additional support and effective strategies for parents in non-traditional families may help to reduce obesogenic behaviours in children from such family types.
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