Heritability of Eating Behavior Assessed Using the DEBQ (Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire) and Weight-related Traits: The Healthy Twin Study

The heritability of eating behavior and body weight-related traits in Asian populations has not been reported. The purpose of this study was to estimate the heritability of eating behavior and the body weight-related traits of current weight and self-reported past weight among twins and their families. Study subjects were 2,144 Korean, adult, same-sex twins and their families at the ages between 20 and 65 years (443 monozygotic (MZ) and 124 dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs, and 1,010 individuals of their family). The Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ) was used to assess three eating behavior subscales measuring restraint, emotional eating, and external eating. A variance component approach was used to estimate heritability. After consideration of shared environmental effects and adjustment for age and sex effects, the heritability estimates +/- s.e. among twins and their family members were 0.31 +/- 0.036 for restraint, 0.25 +/- 0.098 for emotional eating, 0.25 +/- 0.060 for external eating, 0.77 +/- 0.032 for measured current body weight, and 0.70 +/- 0.051 for self-reported weight at 20 years old. The three DEBQ subscales were associated with all weight-related traits after adjustment for age and sex. These results suggest eating behaviors and weight-related traits have a genetic influence, and eating behaviors are associated with obesity indexes. Our findings from Korean twin family were similar to those reported in Western populations.