Childbirth Moderates the Genetic and Environmental Influences on BMI in Adult Twins

We report a study of the moderating role that the number of childbirths has on the genetic and environmental influences on BMI variation. We used a classical twin design with a sample of 704 adult female twins (334 monozygotic and 370 dizygotic). A gene-environment interaction (G x E) model was applied to estimate the moderating effects of childbearing. Results show that age and number of children exert a significant positive main effect on BMI. Furthermore, we found significant moderating effects of childbearing, with a larger number of children associated with an increased sensitivity to environmental factors.