Project Grow-2-Gether: a study of the genetic and environmental influences on child eating and obesity

Twin Res. 2002 Oct;5(5):472-5. doi: 10.1375/136905202320906309.

Abstract

"Project Grow-2-Gether" is a child nutrition study of same-sex, 3- to 7-year-old monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs. The study attempts to bridge two bodies of literature that have rarely interfaced with respect to obesity and ingestive behavior: the first being behavioral genetic approaches to obesity-related traits, and the second being developmental approaches focusing on parent-child relationships. The overarching aim of Project Grow-2-Gether is to disentangle genetic from potential home-environmental influences on child eating behavior and body fat. This paper reviews the rationale for Project Grow-2-Gether, its procedures, and core phenotypic measurement battery. A focus of the study is acquisition of controlled food intake measurements obtained in the laboratory, measurement of specific home environmental variables, and multi-method evaluation of parent-child feeding relations. Future directions may involve longitudinal assessment of child growth and molecular analyses for specific genes that influence child eating behavior.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
  • Twin Study

MeSH terms

  • Absorptiometry, Photon
  • Anthropometry
  • Body Composition
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Diet Surveys
  • Diseases in Twins / diagnosis
  • Diseases in Twins / epidemiology
  • Diseases in Twins / ethnology
  • Diseases in Twins / genetics*
  • Energy Intake
  • Energy Metabolism
  • Environment*
  • Feeding Behavior / ethnology
  • Feeding Behavior / psychology*
  • Humans
  • Obesity / diagnosis
  • Obesity / epidemiology
  • Obesity / ethnology
  • Obesity / genetics*
  • Obesity / psychology*
  • Parent-Child Relations* / ethnology
  • Phenotype
  • Plethysmography, Impedance
  • Psychology, Child*
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Videotape Recording