The Genetic and Cultural Inheritance of Obesity: Differentials in Genetic Penetrance by Home Environment

Aitor Garcia Aguirre, Spanish National Research Council
Nestor Aldea, Spanish Research Council (CSIC), French Institute for Demographic Studies (INED)
Mary McEniry, University of Wisconsin at Madison
Haotian Guo, Spanish National Research Council
Yiyue Huangfu, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Hiram Beltrán-Sánchez, University of Southern California
Michael Lund, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Thorkild Sorensen, University of Coppenhagen
Alberto Palloni, University of Wisconsin-Madison

This study explores the influence of the "home obesogenic environment" on childhood obesity and, in particular, the interplay between the environmental and genetic factors. To do so, we generate a latent variable for “home environment” using domains that have been established in the literature as contributing to obesity, generating what we call the “Cultural Risk Score (CRS)”. Using two U.S. datasets, the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) and the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study, we employ Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to assess how environmental and genetic factors affect children's BMI and how different levels of CRS can modulate the genetic penetrance of obesity. Preliminary findings indicate that dietary factors, physical activity and parental education are the most relevant domains for the home obesogenic environment. Additionally, the model reveals significant variations in genetic effects on BMI across different CRS levels, suggesting important gene-environment interactions. Future research will refine CRS conceptualization and categorization, and incorporate additional genetic indicators to improve understanding and prediction of obesity trends.

Keywords: Biodemography and genetics, Health and Morbidity, Children, Adolescents, and Youth

See extended abstract.