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Genetic and Environmental Factors in Relative Body Weight and Human Adiposity

Overview of attention for article published in Behavior Genetics, July 1997
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About this Attention Score

  • In the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • One of the highest-scoring outputs from this source (#5 of 969)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (99th percentile)

Mentioned by

news
29 news outlets
blogs
2 blogs
policy
2 policy sources
twitter
23 X users
facebook
1 Facebook page
reddit
1 Redditor
video
2 YouTube creators

Citations

dimensions_citation
1234 Dimensions

Readers on

mendeley
680 Mendeley
citeulike
2 CiteULike
Title
Genetic and Environmental Factors in Relative Body Weight and Human Adiposity
Published in
Behavior Genetics, July 1997
DOI 10.1023/a:1025635913927
Pubmed ID
Authors

Hermine H. M. Maes, Michael C. Neale, Lindon J. Eaves

Abstract

We review the literature on the familial resemblance of body mass index (BMI) and other adiposity measures and find strikingly convergent results for a variety of relationships. Results from twin studies suggest that genetic factors explain 50 to 90% of the variance in BMI. Family studies generally report estimates of parent-offspring and sibling correlations in agreement with heritabilities of 20 to 80%. Data from adoption studies are consistent with genetic factors accounting for 20 to 60% of the variation in BMI. Based on data from more than 25,000 twin pairs and 50,000 biological and adoptive family members, the weighted mean correlations are .74 for MZ twins, .32 for DZ twins, .25 for siblings, .19 for parent-offspring pairs, .06 for adoptive relatives, and .12 for spouses. Advantages and disadvantages of twin, family, and adoption studies are reviewed. Data from the Virginia 30,000, including twins and their parents, siblings, spouses, and children, were analyzed using a structural equation model (Stealth) which estimates additive and dominance genetic variance, cultural transmission, assortative mating, nonparental shared environment, and special twin and MZ twin environmental variance. Genetic factors explained 67% of the variance in males and females, of which half is due to dominance. A small proportion of the genetic variance was attributed to the consequences of assortative mating. The remainder of the variance is accounted for by unique environmental factors, of which 7% is correlated across twins. No evidence was found for a special MZ twin environment, thereby supporting the equal environment assumption. These results are consistent with other studies in suggesting that genetic factors play a significant role in the causes of individual differences in relative body weight and human adiposity.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 23 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 680 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
United States 6 <1%
United Kingdom 6 <1%
Russia 2 <1%
Spain 2 <1%
Finland 2 <1%
Ireland 1 <1%
Australia 1 <1%
Switzerland 1 <1%
Iceland 1 <1%
Other 5 <1%
Unknown 653 96%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Ph. D. Student 128 19%
Researcher 99 15%
Student > Bachelor 96 14%
Student > Master 90 13%
Student > Doctoral Student 45 7%
Other 100 15%
Unknown 122 18%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 126 19%
Medicine and Dentistry 118 17%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 75 11%
Psychology 55 8%
Social Sciences 34 5%
Other 129 19%
Unknown 143 21%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 262. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 23 March 2024.
All research outputs
#138,558
of 25,374,917 outputs
Outputs from Behavior Genetics
#5
of 969 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#30
of 28,360 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Behavior Genetics
#1
of 3 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,374,917 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 99th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 969 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 10.5. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 28,360 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 3 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has scored higher than all of them