Publication type
Journal Article
Authors
Publication date
April 15, 2021
Summary:
Background/objectives:
The mediating role of eating behaviors in genetic susceptibility to weight gain during mid-adult life is not fully understood. This longitudinal study aims to help us understand contributions of genetic susceptibility and appetite to weight gain.
Subjects/methods:
We followed the body-mass index (BMI) trajectories of 2464 adults from 45 to 65 years of age by measuring weight and height on four occasions at 5-year intervals. Genetic risk of obesity (gene risk score: GRS) was ascertained, comprising 92 BMI-associated single-nucleotide polymorphisms and split at a median (=high and low risk). At the baseline, the Eating Inventory was used to assess appetite-related traits of ‘disinhibition’, indicative of opportunistic eating or overeating and ‘hunger’ which is susceptibility to/ability to cope with the sensation of hunger. Roles of the GRS and two appetite-related scores for BMI trajectories were examined using a mixed model adjusted for the cohort effect and sex.
Results:
Disinhibition was associated with higher BMI (β = 2.96; 95% CI: 2.66–3.25 kg/m2), and accounted for 34% of the genetically-linked BMI difference at age 45. Hunger was also associated with higher BMI (β = 1.20; 0.82–1.59 kg/m2) during mid-life and slightly steeper weight gain, but did not attenuate the effect of disinhibition.
Conclusions:
Appetite disinhibition is most likely to be a defining characteristic of genetic susceptibility to obesity. High levels of appetite disinhibition, rather than hunger, may underlie genetic vulnerability to obesogenic environments in two-thirds of the population of European ancestry.
Published in
International Journal of Obesity
Volume and page numbers
Volume: 45 , p.758 -765
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-020-00735-9
ISSN
3070565
Subjects
Notes
Open Access
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