Genetic and environmental influences in sedentary behavior during adolescence

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2012

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van der Aa, Niels and Bartels, Meike and te Velde, Saskia J. and Boomsma, Dorret I. and de Geus, Eco J. C. and Brug, Johannes (2012) Genetic and environmental influences in sedentary behavior during adolescence. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 166 (6). pp. 509-514.

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the degree to which genetic and environmental influences affect individual differences in sedentary behavior throughout adolescence. Design: Cross-sectional twin-family design. Setting: Data on self-reported sedentary behavior from Dutch twins and their nontwin siblings. Participants: The total sample consisted of 5074 adolescent twins (aged 13-19 years) and 937 siblings (aged 12-20 years) from 2777 families. Main Outcome Measures: Screen-viewing sedentary behavior was assessed with survey items about weekly frequency of television viewing, playing electronic games, and computer/Internet use. Based on these items, an overall score for screen-viewing sedentary behavior was computed. Results: The genetic architecture of screen-viewing sedentary behavior differed by age. Variation in sedentary behavior among 12-year-olds was accounted for by genetic (boys: 35%; girls: 19%), shared environmental (boys: 29%; girls: 48%), and nonshared environmental (boys: 36%; girls: 34%) factors. Variation in sedentary behavior among 20-year-olds was accounted for by genetic (boys: 48%; girls: 34%) and nonshared environmental (boys: 52%; girls: 66%) factors. Conclusion: The shift from shared environmental factors in the etiology of sedentary behavior among younger adolescents to genetic and nonshared environmental factors among older adolescents requires age-specific tailoring of intervention programs.

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