Genetic and environmental effects on weight gain from young adulthood to old age and its association with body mass index at early young adulthood: an individual-based pooled analysis of 16 twin cohorts

  1. Alvaro Obeso
  2. Gabin Drouard
  3. Aline Jelenkovic
  4. Juan R Ordoñana
  5. Juan F Sánchez-Romera
  6. Lucía Colodro-Conde
  7. Miina Ollikainen
  8. Sari Aaltonen
  9. Robin P Corley
  10. Brooke M Huibregtse
  11. Emanuela Medda
  12. Corrado Fagnani
  13. Virgilia Toccaceli
  14. Margaret Gatz
  15. David A Butler
  16. Meike Bartels
  17. Lannie Ligthart
  18. Eco JC de Geus
  19. Kaare Christensen
  20. Axel Skytthe
  21. Kirsten O Kyvik
  22. Sarah E Medland
  23. Scott D Gordon
  24. Finn E Rasmussen
  25. Per Tynelius
  26. Carol E Franz
  27. William S Kremen
  28. Michael J Lyons
  29. Timothy Spector
  30. Massimo Mangino
  31. Genevieve Lachance
  32. Patrik KE Magnusson
  33. Nancy L Pedersen
  34. Anna K Dahl Aslan
  35. Glen E Duncan
  36. Dedra Buchwald
  37. Hyojin Pyun
  38. Jooyeon Lee
  39. Soo Ji Lee
  40. Joohon Sung
  41. Susanne Bruins
  42. René Pool
  43. Anders Eriksson
  44. Nicholas G Martin
  45. Dorret I Boomsma
  46. Jaakko Kaprio
  47. Karri Silventoinen
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Abstract

Introduction

Genetic factors contribute to weight gain, but how these effects change over adulthood is still unknown. We studied the impact of genetics on BMI change from young adulthood to old age and its relationship with BMI in early young adulthood.

Data and Methods

Data from 16 longitudinal twin cohorts, including 111,370 adults (56% women) and 55,657 complete twin pairs (42% monozygotic), were pooled. The data were divided into three stages (young adulthood-early middle age, late middle age, and old age). BMI change was calculated using linear mixed effects and delta slope methods. Genetic and environmental contributions to these changes and their correlations with baseline BMI were estimated through structural equation modeling.

Results

The average BMI increase per year was 0.18 kg/m² in men and 0.15 kg/m² in women during young adulthood-early middle age (18–50 years), decreasing to ≤0.07 kg/m² at older ages. Genetic effects contributed to BMI change during young adulthood-early middle age (men a²=0.29; women a²=0.26) and less so in late middle age (51–64 years) (men a²=0.05; women a²= 0.16) and old age (>65 years) (men a²=0.13; women a²= 0.18). Most variation was explained by non-shared environmental effects. In men, greater BMI during early young adulthood (18–30 years) was associated with lower BMI change later in life (r= –0.22 to –0.13), and the association was driven by genetic (rA=–0.27) and non-shared environmental (rE=–0.22 to –0.14) factors. In contrast, the association was positive in women (r=0.05–0.28) and was explained by genetic factors (rA=0.27– 0.51).

Conclusion

Genetics influence BMI change across adulthood, with their impact varying by age and sex. Environmental factors are the main drivers of adult BMI change, highlighting the role of modifiable factors in long-term weight regulation.

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