Effect of Shared Environmental Factors on Exercise Behavior from Age 7 to 12 Years
| Autor: | Catherina E. M. van Beijsterveldt, Eco J. C. de Geus, Charlotte Huppertz, Meike Bartels, James J. Hudziak, Dorret I. Boomsma |
|---|---|
| Přispěvatelé: | Biological Psychology, EMGO+ - Lifestyle, Overweight and Diabetes |
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2012 |
| Předmět: |
Male
Netherlands Twin Register (NTR) Physical Therapy Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation Models Biological Article Developmental psychology 03 medical and health sciences Leisure Activities Sex Factors 0302 clinical medicine Twins Dizygotic Humans Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Exercise behavior Registries Child 10. No inequality Exercise Netherlands 030304 developmental biology 0303 health sciences Age Factors Survey research Twins Monozygotic 030229 sport sciences Heritability Twin study Physiological responses Personality factors Trait Female Peak value Psychology |
| Zdroj: | Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 44(10), 2025-2032. Lippincott Williams and Wilkins Huppertz, C, Bartels, M, van Beijsterveldt, C E M, Boomsma, D I, Hudziak, J J & de Geus, E J C 2012, ' Effect of Shared Environmental Factors on Exercise Behavior from Age 7 to 12 Years ', Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, vol. 44, no. 10, pp. 2025-2032 . https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0b013e31825d358e |
| ISSN: | 0195-9131 |
| Popis: | Regular exercise behavior in leisure time is increasingly accepted to be a main contributor to children’s health (22). Despite this, the proportion of children that are active enough to benefit from exercise is low, with girls consistently less active than boys (3). A better understanding of why certain children exercise and others do not is important in order to develop successful health promoting exercise interventions for children and adolescents. Previous research provides evidence that environmental and social factors are related to being physically active (7), such as access to exercise facilities, socio-economic status, and support by family and peers (31, 39). However, even taking into account these factors, a good deal of variance remains unexplained. More recently, it has been suggested that irrespective of the surrounding environment, some people may be more predisposed towards exercising than others (13) – because individuals differ with regard to their internal “need” to be active, exercise ability and personality factors. These factors, hypothesized to be genetically influenced, may trigger either rewarding or negative physiological responses to exercise (11, 13). Twin studies provide a unique opportunity to disentangle the environmental and genetic influences on exercise behavior. They can be used to decompose environmental factors into those that are shared by the twins (such as the family environment) and those environmental factors that are unique to each child. Several twin studies have investigated leisure time exercise behavior in adolescents (15, 34, 38) and in adults (6, 23, 33, 35). The relative contribution of genetic and environmental influences is different for males and females and it changes vastly across the life span (13). For example, van der Aa et al. (38) investigated leisure time exercise behavior in twins aged 13–18 years old. For both sexes, heritability estimates at ages 16–18 years were very high (80%). For 13–14-year-old boys, genetic factors accounted for 80% of the variance in exercise behavior. For girls, genes accounted for only 38% of the influence with the shared environment being more influential (46%). In adult twins, heritability estimates decrease from the peak value in adolescence to values between 40% and 70%. The remaining variance is due to unique environmental factors and the shared environment is no longer of importance (35). There are no published twin studies that have specifically investigated the heritability of leisure time exercise behavior in children. The aim of this study is to bridge this gap by examining the relative influence of genetic and environmental factors on this behavior in children that are aged 7, 10, and 12 years. Similar to previous studies (e.g., 34, 38), we have deliberately chosen to focus on the narrow but well-defined trait of leisure time exercise behavior and not on general physical activity. Survey research can be reliably used to query participation in regular exercise activities but has more difficulty in detecting overall energy expenditure which should be measured preferentially with objective methods like accelerometry. Shared family environment is expected to be a strong contributor to exercise behavior in children as children are likely to be dependent on their parents when it comes to exercise activities (e.g. need to get rides to and from facilities). Based on the adolescent findings, we also expect significant genetic contribution to exercise behavior in this period, particularly in boys. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
|