Gene-by-age effects on BMI from birth to adulthood: the Fels Longitudinal Study.

Objectives: Genome wide association studies have shown 32 loci to influence BMI in European-American adults but replication in other studies is inconsistent and may be attributed to gene-by-age effects. The aims of this study were to determine if the influence of the summed risk score of these 32 loci (GRS) on BMI differed across age from birth to 40 years, and to determine if additive genetic effects other than those in the GRS differed by age.

Methods: Serial measures of BMI were calculated at 0, 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, and 28 months, and 4, 7, 11, 15, 19, 23, 30, and 40 years for 1,176 (605 females, 571 males) European-American participants in the Fels Longitudinal Study.

Associations between trunk, leg and total body adiposity with arterial stiffness.

Background: Obesity and arterial stiffness are associated, but fat distribution patterns may be more strongly related to arterial stiffness than general obesity because of the possible increased inflammation associated with increased abdominal adiposity. The aims of this study were to examine whether fat patterning is associated with arterial stiffness, and determine whether these associations are mediated by low-grade inflammation.

Methods: Adult participants from the Fels Longitudinal Study (228 males and 254 females) were assessed for brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (BaPWV) to determine arterial stiffness.

A changing pattern of childhood BMI growth during the 20th century: 70 y of data from the Fels Longitudinal Study.

Background: The BMI distribution shifted upward in the United States between the 1960s and the 1990s, but little is known about secular trends in the pattern of BMI growth, particularly earlier in the century and early in childhood.

Objective: The objective was to examine differences in BMI growth in children born in 1929-1999.

Design: BMI curves from ages 2 to 18 y were produced for 855 European-American children in the Fels Longitudinal Study born in 1929-1953, 1954-1972, and 1973-1999.

Genome-wide linkage scan for quantitative trait loci underlying normal variation in heel bone ultrasound measures.

Quantitative ultrasound (QUS) traits are correlated with bone mineral density (BMD), but predict risk for future fracture independent of BMD. Only a few studies, however, have sought to identify specific genes influencing calcaneal QUS measures. The aim of this study was to conduct a genome-wide linkage scan to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) influencing normal variation in QUS traits.

Cortical bone health shows significant linkage to chromosomes 2p, 3p, and 17q in 10-year-old children.

Genes play an important role in lifelong skeletal health. Genes that influence bone building during childhood have the potential to affect bone health not only throughout childhood but also into adulthood. Given that peak bone mass is a significant predictor of adult fracture risk, it is imperative that the genetic underpinnings of the normal pediatric skeleton are uncovered.

Secular trends in blood pressure during early-to-middle adulthood: the Fels Longitudinal Study.

Background: Some studies have shown a decline in blood pressure (BP) over the second half of the twentieth century. However, the increasing prevalence of obesity may have opposite effects on recent cohorts.

Method: Using serial BP data from the Fels Longitudinal Study, we examined secular trends in mean BP, the rate of change in BP with age (slopes), and the influence of obesity (i.

A genome-wide linkage scan for quantitative trait loci influencing the craniofacial complex in humans (Homo sapiens sapiens).

The genetic architecture of the craniofacial complex has been the subject of intense scrutiny because of the high frequency of congenital malformations. Numerous animal models have been used to document the early development of the craniofacial complex, but few studies have focused directly on the genetic underpinnings of normal variation in the human craniofacial complex. This study examines 80 quantitative traits derived from lateral cephalographs of 981 participants in the Fels Longitudinal Study, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio.

Significant associations of age, menopausal status and lifestyle factors with visceral adiposity in African-American and European-American women.

Background: Elevated visceral adiposity is strongly predictive of cardiometabolic disease, but, due to the high cost of biomedical imaging, assessment of factors contributing to normal variation in visceral (VAT) and subcutaneous (SAT) adipose tissue partitioning in large cohorts of healthy individuals are few, particularly in ethnic and racial minority populations.

Objective: To describe age, menopausal status, smoking and physical activity differences in VAT and abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue (ASAT) mass in African-American (AA) and European-American (EA) women.

Methods: Magnetic resonance imaging measures of VAT and ASAT mass and VAT% (VAT/VAT+ASAT, %) were obtained from a cross-sectional sample of 617 EA and 111 AA non-diabetic women aged 18-80 years.

Longitudinal changes in calcaneal quantitative ultrasound measures during childhood.

Unlabelled: This longitudinal study examined how calcaneal quantitative ultrasound (QUS) measures change during childhood while taking into account skeletal maturation, body mass index (BMI), and physical activity. The study reported sex differences in QUS growth curves and an inverse relationship between BMI and speed of sound (SOS) measures.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to examine how calcaneal QUS parameters change over time during childhood and to determine what factors influence these changes.

Bayesian longitudinal plateau model of adult grip strength.

Objectives: This article illustrates the use of applied Bayesian statistical methods in modeling the trajectory of adult grip strength and in evaluating potential risk factors that may influence that trajectory.

Methods: The data consist of from 1 to 11 repeated grip strength measurements from each of 498 men and 533 women age 18-96 years in the Fels Longitudinal Study (Roche AF. 1992.

Body composition methods: comparisons and interpretation.

The incidence of obesity in the United States and other developed countries is epidemic. Because the prevalence of comorbidities to obesity, such as type 2 diabetes, has also increased, it is clear there is a great need to monitor and treat obesity and its comorbidities. Body composition assessments vary in precision and in the target tissue of interest.

Left ventricular mass, abdominal circumference and age: the Fels longitudinal study.

Purpose: To determine the relationship of abdominal circumference with increased left ventricular mass (LVM) from young adulthood into old age.

Methods: Cross-sectional echocardiographic images were taken from 182 men and 220 women in the Fels Longitudinal Study 20 to 75 years of age to determine left ventricular mass. Left ventricular mass was divided by stature raised to the power of 2.

Presentation, heritability, and genome-wide linkage analysis of the midchildhood growth spurt in healthy children from the Fels Longitudinal Study.

Growth is a complex process composed of distinct phases over the course of childhood. Although the pubertal growth spurt has received the most attention from auxologists and pediatricians, the midchildhood growth spurt has been less well studied. The midchildhood growth spurt refers to a relatively small increase in growth velocity observed in some, but not necessarily all, children in early to middle childhood.

Sleep disturbance in relation to health-related quality of life in adults: the Fels Longitudinal Study.

Objective: Sleep disturbances are prevalent problems in the general population. Symptoms of insomnia can impact various physical and mental conditions. Furthermore, sleep disturbances may worsen the quality of life independently of co-occurring medical conditions.

Rapid postnatal weight gain and visceral adiposity in adulthood: the Fels Longitudinal Study.

Rapid infant weight gain is associated with increased abdominal adiposity, but there is no published report of the relationship of early infant growth to differences in specific adipose tissue depots in the abdomen, including visceral adipose tissue (VAT). In this study, we tested the associations of birth weight, infant weight gain, and other early life traits with VAT, abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue (ASAT), and other body composition measures using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry in middle adulthood (mean age = 46.5 years).

The first seriatim study into old age for weight, stature and BMI: the Fels Longitudinal Study.

Purpose: To document the serial status of measures of weight, stature and BMI from birth into old age.

Methods: Longitudinal measures of weight, stature and BMI were taken from birth to 76 years of age for 5 men and 7 women as part of the Fels Longitudinal Study.

Results: Sex-specific plots of means for weight, stature and BMI are presented that describe the changes and sex differences in these measurements between birth (or the first year of life) into old age.

Visceral adiposity and its anatomical distribution as predictors of the metabolic syndrome and cardiometabolic risk factor levels.

Background: Despite the recognition that central obesity plays a critical role in chronic disease, few large-scale imaging studies have documented human variation in abdominal adipose tissue patterning.

Objective: We aimed to compare the associations between abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue (ASAT) and visceral abdominal tissue (VAT), which were measured at different locations across the abdomen, and the presence of the metabolic syndrome (MS; National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III definition) and individual cardiometabolic risk factors.

Design: This study included 713 non-Hispanic whites aged 18-86 y, in whom VAT and ASAT were assessed by using multiple-image magnetic resonance imaging.

Genetic analysis of self-reported physical activity and adiposity: the Southwest Ohio Family Study.

Objective: Physical inactivity poses a major risk for obesity and chronic disease, and is influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. However, the genetic association between physical activity (PA) level and obesity is not well characterized. Our aims were to: (i) estimate the extent of additive genetic influences on physical activity while adjusting for household effects; and (ii) determine whether physical activity and adiposity measures share common genetic effects.

Genetic architecture of knee radiographic joint space in healthy young adults.

Evidence of a significant genetic component to the age-related degenerative joint disease osteoarthritis has been established, but the nature of genetic influences on normal joint morphology in healthy individuals remains unclear. Following up on our previous findings on the influence of body habitus on phenotypic variation in knee joint space [Duren et al., Human Biology 78:353-364 (2006)], the objective of the current study was to estimate the heritability of radiographic joint space in the knees of healthy young adults from a community-based sample of families.

Childhood obesity predicts adult metabolic syndrome: the Fels Longitudinal Study.

Objectives: To determine the age of significant divergence in body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference in adults with and without the metabolic syndrome, and to provide age- and sex-specific childhood values that predict adult metabolic syndrome.

Study Design: Part 1 of this study is a retrospective cohort study of 92 men and 59 women (mean age, 51 years) who had metabolic syndrome and 154 randomly selected adults matched for age and sex who did not have the syndrome. Part 2 is a study of predictive accuracy in a validation sample of 743 participants.

Anatomical patterning of visceral adipose tissue: race, sex, and age variation.

Objective: We tested sex, race, and age differences in the patterning of visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue.

Research Methods And Procedures: Contiguous 1-cm-thick magnetic resonance (MR) images of the abdomen were collected from 820 African-American and white adults. Repeated-measures ANOVA was used to examine the effects of image location, sex, race, and age (>or=50 vs.

Genetic and environmental influences on infant weight and weight change: the Fels Longitudinal Study.

Despite significant progress in understanding the mechanisms by which the prenatal/maternal environment can alter development and adult health, genetic influences on normal variation in growth are little understood. This work examines genetic and nongenetic contributions to body weight and weight change during infancy and the relationships between weight change and adult body composition. The dataset included 501 white infants in 164 nuclear and extended families in the Fels Longitudinal Study, each with 10 serial measures of weight from birth to age 3 years and 232 with body composition data in mid-adulthood.

Genetic factors in physical growth and development and their relationship to subsequent health outcomes.

Normal physical growth during childhood is influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. However, few studies have examined whether there are shared genetic effects between aspects of child growth and later health outcomes. In this study, we estimate the influence of genetic factors on growth in stature during childhood and determine whether there are pleiotropic effects of genes influencing both childhood growth and later adult health outcomes using familial data.