Anthropometric heritability and child growth in a Caribbean village: A quantitative genetic analysis of longitudinal height, weight, and body mass index in Bwa Mawego, Dominica.

OBJECTIVES: Body size and composition vary widely among individuals and populations, and long-term research in diverse contexts informs our understanding of genetic, cultural, and environmental impacts on this variation. We analyze longitudinal measures of height, weight, and body mass index (BMI) from a Caribbean village, estimating the extent to which these anthropometrics are shaped by genetic variance in a small-scale population of mixed ancestry. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Longitudinal data from a traditionally horticultural village in Dominica document height and weight in a non-Western population that is transitioning to increasingly Westernized lifestyles, and an 11-generation pedigree enables us to estimate the proportions of phenotypic variation in height, weight, and BMI attributed to genetic variation. We assess within-individual variation across growth curves as well as heritabilities of these traits for 260 individuals using Bayesian variance component estimation. RESULTS: Age, sex, and secular trends account for the majority of anthropometric variation in these longitudinal data. Independent of age, sex, and secular trends, our analyses show high repeatabilities for the remaining variation in height, weight, and BMI growth curves (>0.75), and moderate heritabilities (h2height = 0.68, h2weight = 0.64, h2BMI = 0.49) reveal clear genetic signals that account for large proportions of the variation in body size observed between families. Secular trends show increases of 6.5% in height and 16.0% in weight from 1997 to 2017. DISCUSSION: This horticultural Caribbean population has transitioned to include more Westernized foods and technologies over the decades captured in this analysis. BMI varies widely between individuals and is significantly shaped by genetic variation, warranting future exploration with other physiological correlates and associated genetic variants.

The relationship between psychosocial status, acculturation and country of origin in mid-life Hispanic women: data from the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN).

METHOD: To test the hypothesis that psychosocial symptomatology differs by country of origin and acculturation among Hispanic women, we examined 419 women, aged 42-52 years at baseline, enrolled in the New Jersey site of the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN). Women were categorized into six groups: Central (CA, n = 29) or South American (SA, n = 106), Puerto Rican (PR, n = 56), Dominican (D, n = 42), Cuban (Cu, n = 44) and non-Hispanic Caucasian (NHC, n = 142). Acculturation, depressive symptoms, hostility/cynicism, mistreatment/discrimination, sleep quality, social support, and perceived stress were assessed at baseline. Physical functioning, trait anxiety and anger were assessed at the fourth annual follow-up. Comparisons between Hispanic and non-Hispanic Caucasians used χ², t test or non-parametric alternatives; ANOVA or Kruskal-Wallis testing examined differences among the five Hispanic sub-groups. Multivariable regression models used PR women as the reference group. RESULTS: Hispanic women were overall less educated, less acculturated (p < 0.001 for both) and reported more depressive symptoms, cynicism, perceived stress, and less mistreatment/discrimination than NHCs. Along with D women, PR women reported worse sleep than Cu women (p < 0.01) and more trait anxiety than SA and Cu women (p < 0.01). Yet, PR women were most acculturated (21.4% highly acculturated vs. CA (0.0%), D (4.8%), SA (4.8%) and Cu (2.3%) women; p < 0.001). In regression models, PR women reported depressive symptoms more frequently than D, Cu, or SA women, and reported trait anxiety more frequently than Cu or SA women. Greater acculturation was associated with more favorable psychosocial status, but PR ethnicity was negatively related to psychosocial status. CONCLUSION: Psychosocial symptomatology among Hispanic women differs by country of origin and the relatively adverse profile of Puerto Rican women is not explained by acculturation.

Patterns of agreement on breast cancer screening knowledge and practices among women in Dominican and Mexican families in New York City.

BACKGROUND: In medically underserved communities, the transfer of information through social networks may help promote healthy behaviors when traditional health education channels are not effective. MATERIAL/METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 212 young Mexican and Dominican women and 212 of their older female relatives (age 40-88) regarding knowledge and practices of breast cancer screening, allowing analysis of agreement between women of different generations in the same family. RESULTS: Women in the study had low educational attainment and had poor access to health care. Two-thirds of all participants reported that they talked to their relatives about breast cancer screening; these women were significantly more likely to perform BSE, but not to have had clinical breast exams or mammograms. Measurement of prevalence-adjusted bias-adjusted kappa between the 212 family pairs found agreement on knowledge of the various screening methods and on sources of health information, but not on BSE or clinical breast exam behavior. CONCLUSIONS: These mixed findings do not suggest a direct relationship between information sharing within a family and screening behavior. An innovative model of training young women connected to regular medical care to convey information and reinforce existing educational messages for the older women in their families may be successful. But the lack of a pattern of similar screening behaviors within the family pairs indicates that any such effort would need to begin by providing the young women with accurate information about screening.

Comparison of baseline fat-related eating behaviors of Puerto Rican, Dominican, Colombian, and Guatemalan participants who joined a cholesterol education project.

OBJECTIVE: The objective is to compare baseline fat-related eating behaviors among Hispanic subgroups who joined a cholesterol education research project in New England. DESIGN: Participants attended baseline screenings as part of the study. They had their height, weight, and blood cholesterol measured and completed baseline surveys with demographic, risk factor, dietary, and psychosocial questions. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 370 Puerto Rican, 210 Colombian, 357 Dominican, and 102 Guatemalan subjects participated in the baseline. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Dietary behavior was measured using the Food Habits Questionnaire (FHQ), which was originally developed to assess food choices and preparation patterns related to adopting a low-fat diet. Measures include FHQ fat summary scores (a reflection of total fat intake), fat behavior subscales, and individual fat-related behaviors. ANALYSIS: Analysis of variance was used to compare FHQ fat summary scores and multivariate analysis of variance was used to compare fat behavior scores and individual food item scores for the 4 Hispanic subgroups. Age and gender were covariates in the models. RESULTS: Puerto Rican participants had a significantly higher mean FHQ fat summary score than Dominicans and Guatemalans and a higher prevalence of many fat-related eating behaviors. Although there were some differences by subgroup, the 4 most prevalent fat-related behaviors were similar: cooking with fat/oil, eating higher-fat sweets, eating higher-fat snacks, and eating dinners with meat. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Future educational programs and materials for diverse Hispanic audiences in the northeastern United States should include the above issues; however, educational materials and programs ought to be tailored to individuals whenever possible. Efforts may need to focus on Puerto Ricans, who had a higher prevalence of many fat-related behaviors in this study.