Huppertz Charlotte, Bartels Meike, de Zeeuw Eveline L, van Beijsterveldt Catharina E M, Hudziak James J, Willemsen Gonneke, Boomsma Dorret I, de Geus Eco J C
Department of Public and Occupational Health, VU University Medical Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Department of Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Behav Genet. 2016 Sep;46(5):665-679. doi: 10.1007/s10519-016-9799-x. Epub 2016 Jul 12.
Exercise behavior during leisure time is a major source of health-promoting physical activity and moderately tracks across childhood and adolescence. This study aims to investigate the absolute and relative contribution of genes and the environment to variance in exercise behavior from age 7 to 18, and to elucidate the stability and change of genetic and shared environmental factors that underlie this behavior. The Netherlands Twin Register collected data on exercise behavior in twins aged approximately 7, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18 years (N = 27,332 twins; 48 % males; 47 % with longitudinal assessments). Three exercise categories (low, middle, high) were analyzed by means of liability threshold models. First, a univariate model was fitted using the largest available cross-sectional dataset with linear and quadratic effects of age as modifiers on the means and variance components. Second, a simplex model was fitted on the longitudinal dataset. Heritability was low in 7-year-olds (14 % in males and 12 % in females), but gradually increased up to age 18 (79 % in males and 49 % in females), whereas the initially substantial relative influence of the shared environment decreased with age (from 80 to 4 % in males and from 80 to 19 % in females). This decrease was due to a large increase in the genetic variance. The longitudinal model showed the genetic effects in males to be largely stable and to accumulate from childhood to late adolescence, whereas in females, they were marked by both transmission and innovation at all ages. The shared environmental effects tended to be less stable in both males and females. In sum, the clear age-moderation of exercise behavior implies that family-based interventions might be useful to increase this behavior in children, whereas individual-based interventions might be better suited for adolescents. We showed that some determinants of individual differences in exercise behavior are stable across childhood and youth, whereas others come into play at specific ages. In view of the many benefits of regular exercise, identifying these determinants at specific ages should be a public health priority.
休闲时间的运动行为是促进健康的身体活动的主要来源，并且在儿童期和青少年期具有一定程度的连续性。本研究旨在调查基因和环境对7至18岁运动行为差异的绝对和相对贡献，并阐明构成该行为基础的遗传和共享环境因素的稳定性和变化。荷兰双胞胎登记处收集了年龄约为7、10、12、14、16和18岁双胞胎的运动行为数据（N = 27332对双胞胎；48%为男性；47%有纵向评估）。通过责任阈值模型分析了三个运动类别（低、中、高）。首先，使用最大可用横截面数据集拟合单变量模型，将年龄的线性和二次效应作为均值和方差成分的修饰因素。其次，在纵向数据集上拟合单纯形模型。7岁儿童的遗传率较低（男性为14%，女性为12%），但到18岁时逐渐增加（男性为79%，女性为49%），而共享环境最初的较大相对影响随年龄下降（男性从80%降至4%，女性从80%降至19%）。这种下降是由于遗传方差的大幅增加。纵向模型显示，男性的遗传效应在很大程度上是稳定的，并且从儿童期到青春期后期逐渐累积，而在女性中，遗传效应在所有年龄段都表现为既有传递又有创新。共享环境效应在男性和女性中往往不太稳定。总之，运动行为明显的年龄调节意味着基于家庭的干预措施可能有助于增加儿童的这种行为，而基于个体的干预措施可能更适合青少年。我们表明，运动行为个体差异的一些决定因素在儿童期和青年期是稳定的，而其他因素在特定年龄发挥作用。鉴于定期运动有诸多益处，在特定年龄识别这些决定因素应是公共卫生的优先事项。
