TY - JOUR

T1 - Zygosity Differences in Height and Body Mass Index of Twins From Infancy to Old Age

T2 - A Study of the CODATwins Project

AU - Jelenkovic, Aline

AU - Yokoyama, Yoshie

AU - Sund, Reijo

AU - Honda, Chika

AU - Bogl, Leonie H

AU - Aaltonen, Sari

AU - Ji, Fuling

AU - Ning, Feng

AU - Pang, Zengchang

AU - Ordoñana, Juan R

AU - Sánchez-Romera, Juan F

AU - Colodro-Conde, Lucia

AU - Burt, S Alexandra

AU - Klump, Kelly L

AU - Medland, Sarah E

AU - Montgomery, Grant W

AU - Kandler, Christian

AU - McAdams, Tom A

AU - Eley, Thalia C

AU - Gregory, Alice M

AU - Saudino, Kimberly J

AU - Dubois, Lise

AU - Boivin, Michel

AU - Tarnoki, Adam D

AU - Tarnoki, David L

AU - Haworth, Claire M A

AU - Plomin, Robert

AU - Öncel, Sevgi Y

AU - Aliev, Fazil

AU - Stazi, Maria A

AU - Fagnani, Corrado

AU - D'Ippolito, Cristina

AU - Craig, Jeffrey M

AU - Saffery, Richard

AU - Siribaddana, Sisira H

AU - Hotopf, Matthew

AU - Sumathipala, Athula

AU - Rijsdijk, Fruhling

AU - Spector, Timothy

AU - Mangino, Massimo

AU - Lachance, Genevieve

AU - Gatz, Margaret

AU - Butler, David A

AU - Bayasgalan, Gombojav

AU - Narandalai, Danshiitsoodol

AU - Freitas, Duarte L

AU - Maia, José Antonio

AU - Harden, K Paige

AU - Tucker-Drob, Elliot M

AU - Kim, Bia

AU - Chong, Youngsook

AU - Hong, Changhee

AU - Shin, Hyun Jung

AU - Christensen, Kaare

AU - Skytthe, Axel

AU - Kyvik, Kirsten O

AU - Derom, Catherine A

AU - Vlietinck, Robert F

AU - Loos, Ruth J F

AU - Cozen, Wendy

AU - Hwang, Amie E

AU - Mack, Thomas M

AU - He, Mingguang

AU - Ding, Xiaohu

AU - Chang, Billy

AU - Silberg, Judy L

AU - Eaves, Lindon J

AU - Maes, Hermine H

AU - Cutler, Tessa L

AU - Hopper, John L

AU - Aujard, Kelly

AU - Magnusson, Patrik K E

AU - Pedersen, Nancy L

AU - Aslan, Anna K Dahl

AU - Song, Yun-Mi

AU - Yang, Sarah

AU - Lee, Kayoung

AU - Baker, Laura A

AU - Tuvblad, Catherine

AU - Bjerregaard-Andersen, Morten

AU - Beck-Nielsen, Henning

AU - Sodemann, Morten

AU - Heikkilä, Kauko

AU - Tan, Qihua

AU - Zhang, Dongfeng

AU - Swan, Gary E

AU - Krasnow, Ruth

AU - Jang, Kerry L

AU - Knafo-Noam, Ariel

AU - Mankuta, David

AU - Abramson, Lior

AU - Lichtenstein, Paul

AU - Krueger, Robert F

AU - McGue, Matt

AU - Pahlen, Shandell

AU - Tynelius, Per

AU - Duncan, Glen E

AU - Buchwald, Dedra

AU - Corley, Robin P

AU - Huibregtse, Brooke M

AU - Nelson, Tracy L

AU - Whitfield, Keith E

AU - Franz, Carol E

AU - Kremen, William S

AU - Lyons, Michael J

AU - Ooki, Syuichi

AU - Brandt, Ingunn

AU - Nilsen, Thomas Sevenius

AU - Inui, Fujio

AU - Watanabe, Mikio

AU - Bartels, Meike

AU - van Beijsterveldt, Toos C E M

AU - Wardle, Jane

AU - Llewellyn, Clare H

AU - Fisher, Abigail

AU - Rebato, Esther

AU - Martin, Nicholas G

AU - Iwatani, Yoshinori

AU - Hayakawa, Kazuo

AU - Sung, Joohon

AU - Harris, Jennifer R

AU - Willemsen, Gonneke

AU - Busjahn, Andreas

AU - Goldberg, Jack H

AU - Rasmussen, Finn

AU - Hur, Yoon-Mi

AU - Boomsma, Dorret I

AU - Sørensen, Thorkild I A

AU - Kaprio, Jaakko

AU - Silventoinen, Karri

PY - 2015/10

Y1 - 2015/10

N2 - A trend toward greater body size in dizygotic (DZ) than in monozygotic (MZ) twins has been suggested by some but not all studies, and this difference may also vary by age. We analyzed zygosity differences in mean values and variances of height and body mass index (BMI) among male and female twins from infancy to old age. Data were derived from an international database of 54 twin cohorts participating in the COllaborative project of Development of Anthropometrical measures in Twins (CODATwins), and included 842,951 height and BMI measurements from twins aged 1 to 102 years. The results showed that DZ twins were consistently taller than MZ twins, with differences of up to 2.0 cm in childhood and adolescence and up to 0.9 cm in adulthood. Similarly, a greater mean BMI of up to 0.3 kg/m2 in childhood and adolescence and up to 0.2 kg/m2 in adulthood was observed in DZ twins, although the pattern was less consistent. DZ twins presented up to 1.7% greater height and 1.9% greater BMI than MZ twins; these percentage differences were largest in middle and late childhood and decreased with age in both sexes. The variance of height was similar in MZ and DZ twins at most ages. In contrast, the variance of BMI was significantly higher in DZ than in MZ twins, particularly in childhood. In conclusion, DZ twins were generally taller and had greater BMI than MZ twins, but the differences decreased with age in both sexes.

AB - A trend toward greater body size in dizygotic (DZ) than in monozygotic (MZ) twins has been suggested by some but not all studies, and this difference may also vary by age. We analyzed zygosity differences in mean values and variances of height and body mass index (BMI) among male and female twins from infancy to old age. Data were derived from an international database of 54 twin cohorts participating in the COllaborative project of Development of Anthropometrical measures in Twins (CODATwins), and included 842,951 height and BMI measurements from twins aged 1 to 102 years. The results showed that DZ twins were consistently taller than MZ twins, with differences of up to 2.0 cm in childhood and adolescence and up to 0.9 cm in adulthood. Similarly, a greater mean BMI of up to 0.3 kg/m2 in childhood and adolescence and up to 0.2 kg/m2 in adulthood was observed in DZ twins, although the pattern was less consistent. DZ twins presented up to 1.7% greater height and 1.9% greater BMI than MZ twins; these percentage differences were largest in middle and late childhood and decreased with age in both sexes. The variance of height was similar in MZ and DZ twins at most ages. In contrast, the variance of BMI was significantly higher in DZ than in MZ twins, particularly in childhood. In conclusion, DZ twins were generally taller and had greater BMI than MZ twins, but the differences decreased with age in both sexes.

U2 - 10.1017/thg.2015.57

DO - 10.1017/thg.2015.57

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 26337138

VL - 18

SP - 557

EP - 570

JO - Acta Geneticae Medicae et Gemellologiae

JF - Acta Geneticae Medicae et Gemellologiae

SN - 1832-4274

IS - 5

ER -