The association between parental separation during childhood and obesity in adulthood: a Danish twin study.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine if parental separation during childhood is associated with obesity in adulthood. METHODS: A co-twin case-control study of 146 adult same-sexed twin pairs with discordant body mass index (BMI) (i.e. one of the twins should have a BMI of 20-25 kg/m2, and the co-twin's BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2) was selected from Danish Twin Registry (DTR). In total of 236 eligible twin individuals participated in the study. Childhood parental separation (defined as separation from one of the biological parents, regardless of the reason for separation) for at least one year prior to age 17 was self-reported. The statistical analysis includes logistic and linear regression models using STATA 13.0. RESULTS: There were no differences in the odds of developing obesity in adulthood between the twin who stayed with a father and the co-twin who was separated from him for at least 1 year prior to age 17 [OR = 1.22, 95%CI (0.46-3.34), p = 0.65]. Separation from a mother also showed no differences in the odds for developing obesity [OR = 0.90, 95%CI (0.32-2.46), p = 0.82]. CONCLUSIONS: Because of the limited number of discordant twin pairs for childhood parental separation, we cannot provide evidence to suggest that separation from parents in childhood was associated with developing obesity in adulthood. Further studies of pooling discordant twins from several countries should be considered.

The relation between an adverse psychological and social environment in childhood and the development of adult obesity: a systematic literature review.

The prevalence of obesity is on a global-wide increase, but still the aetiology of adult obesity is poorly understood. It has been shown that overweight children suffer from adverse psychological events, but less is known about the potential effects of adverse psychological factors among normal weight children for later development of obesity. The purpose of this study was to systematically review current literature on associations between psychological factors in childhood and development of obesity in adulthood. A systematic search was conducted in three electronic databases MEDLINE (silverplatter 1977-2008), PsycINFO (1972-2008) and PsycINFO Weekly (week 1 January 2007-week 3 July 2008) to identify studies of interest. Six prospective and two retrospective studies were identified. Psychosocial factors related to adult obesity were lack of childhood care, abuse and childhood anxiety disorders. In addition, depression in adolescence tended to be related to adult obesity but among young girls only. Learning difficulties and scholastic proficiencies below average were also risk factors. The current literature suggests that specific psychosocial factors in childhood may act as determinants for developing obesity in adulthood.

[Calculation of the plausibility of paternity, using the results of blood grouping tests in cases in which the fatherhood of a man to twins and siblings is disputed. III. Practical experience with the method used for calculation of some cases concerning twins and siblings (author's transl)]. / Berechnung der Vaterschaftswahrscheinlichkeit bei blutgruppenserologischer Begutachtung der Abstammung von Zwillingen und Geschwistern III. Mitteilung: Praktische Erfahrungen mit der Methode an einer grösseren Zahl von Zwillings- und Geschwisterfälen

In 129 two-children cases, including 84 twin cases and 45 brother and sister cases, the probability of paternity of one or several men was calculated, applying the method of Hummel and Schulte-Mönting. With this method the whole information, given by the blood group results, is used. Because of this, the achieved values of probability in most of the cases are higher than the values achieved using the Essen-Möller formula, in which the relation between the children is not taken into account.