Environmental influences on children's physical activity: quantitative estimates using a twin design.
<h4>Background</h4>Twin studies offer a 'natural experiment' that can estimate the magnitude of environmental and genetic effects on a target phenotype. We hypothesised that fidgetiness and enjoyment of activity would be heritable but that objectively-measured daily activity wo...
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2010-04-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
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| author | Abigail Fisher Cornelia H M van Jaarsveld Clare H Llewellyn Jane Wardle |
| author_facet | Abigail Fisher Cornelia H M van Jaarsveld Clare H Llewellyn Jane Wardle |
| author_sort | Abigail Fisher |
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| description | <h4>Background</h4>Twin studies offer a 'natural experiment' that can estimate the magnitude of environmental and genetic effects on a target phenotype. We hypothesised that fidgetiness and enjoyment of activity would be heritable but that objectively-measured daily activity would show a strong shared environmental effect.<h4>Methodology/principal findings</h4>In a sample of 9-12 year-old same-sex twin pairs (234 individuals; 57 MZ, 60 DZ pairs) we assessed three dimensions of physical activity: i) objectively-measured physical activity using accelerometry, ii) 'fidgetiness' using a standard psychometric scale, and iii) enjoyment of physical activity from both parent ratings and children's self-reports. Shared environment effects explained the majority (73%) of the variance in objectively-measured total physical activity (95% confidence intervals (CI): 0.63-0.81) with a smaller unshared environmental effect (27%; CI: 0.19-0.37) and no significant genetic effect. In contrast, fidgetiness was primarily under genetic control, with additive genetic effects explaining 75% (CI: 62-84%) of the variance, as was parent's report of children's enjoyment of low 74% (CI: 61-82%), medium 80% (CI: 71-86%), and high impact activity (85%; CI: 78-90%), and children's expressed activity preferences (60%, CI: 42-72%).<h4>Conclusions</h4>Consistent with our hypothesis, the shared environment was the dominant influence on children's day-to-day activity levels. This finding gives a strong impetus to research into the specific environmental characteristics influencing children's activity, and supports the value of interventions focused on home or school environments. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-944dc81aa4504c3da4546d16cd60a5ba |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2010-04-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj-art-944dc81aa4504c3da4546d16cd60a5ba2025-08-20T02:01:57ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032010-04-0154e1011010.1371/journal.pone.0010110Environmental influences on children's physical activity: quantitative estimates using a twin design.Abigail FisherCornelia H M van JaarsveldClare H LlewellynJane Wardle<h4>Background</h4>Twin studies offer a 'natural experiment' that can estimate the magnitude of environmental and genetic effects on a target phenotype. We hypothesised that fidgetiness and enjoyment of activity would be heritable but that objectively-measured daily activity would show a strong shared environmental effect.<h4>Methodology/principal findings</h4>In a sample of 9-12 year-old same-sex twin pairs (234 individuals; 57 MZ, 60 DZ pairs) we assessed three dimensions of physical activity: i) objectively-measured physical activity using accelerometry, ii) 'fidgetiness' using a standard psychometric scale, and iii) enjoyment of physical activity from both parent ratings and children's self-reports. Shared environment effects explained the majority (73%) of the variance in objectively-measured total physical activity (95% confidence intervals (CI): 0.63-0.81) with a smaller unshared environmental effect (27%; CI: 0.19-0.37) and no significant genetic effect. In contrast, fidgetiness was primarily under genetic control, with additive genetic effects explaining 75% (CI: 62-84%) of the variance, as was parent's report of children's enjoyment of low 74% (CI: 61-82%), medium 80% (CI: 71-86%), and high impact activity (85%; CI: 78-90%), and children's expressed activity preferences (60%, CI: 42-72%).<h4>Conclusions</h4>Consistent with our hypothesis, the shared environment was the dominant influence on children's day-to-day activity levels. This finding gives a strong impetus to research into the specific environmental characteristics influencing children's activity, and supports the value of interventions focused on home or school environments.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0010110&type=printable |
| spellingShingle | Abigail Fisher Cornelia H M van Jaarsveld Clare H Llewellyn Jane Wardle Environmental influences on children's physical activity: quantitative estimates using a twin design. PLoS ONE |
| title | Environmental influences on children's physical activity: quantitative estimates using a twin design. |
| title_full | Environmental influences on children's physical activity: quantitative estimates using a twin design. |
| title_fullStr | Environmental influences on children's physical activity: quantitative estimates using a twin design. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Environmental influences on children's physical activity: quantitative estimates using a twin design. |
| title_short | Environmental influences on children's physical activity: quantitative estimates using a twin design. |
| title_sort | environmental influences on children s physical activity quantitative estimates using a twin design |
| url | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0010110&type=printable |
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