Body morphology, obesity and blood pressure in nuclear families from the greater Bilbaogenetic and environmental influences

Resumen

The increasing prevalence of obesity worldwide, with Spain at the head of European countries in terms of childhood overweight, makes the study of the complex genetic and environmental architecture of body morphology, obesity and hypertension of substantial interest. The present investigation was based on a sample of nuclear families from the Greater Bilbao, with children of ages from 2 to 19 years. Anthropometric traits defining human body size, shape and amount and distribution of adipose tissue showed moderate to high heritability estimates (0.28-0.69), whereas blood pressure phenotypes, particularly pulse pressure, were less influenced by additive genetic factors (0.14-0.31). Overall body configuration is determined, at least in part, by common genetic and environmental factors among its different dimensions and components, and both influences were strong among obesity-related phenotypes. Biodemographic and socioeconomic factors, albeit significant, have a small influence on the variation of body morphology and composition of children. The general trend was towards a positive association for socioeconomic status and stature, but negative with those traits determining the amount of body fat and mass. On the other hand, the results from the present study showed that there are no major common genetic or environmental backgrounds affecting blood pressure and adiposity covariation. Finally, the increase in body mass is explained to a great extent by the increase in the amount of adipose tissue in the present sample, but the stronger association of body fat with environmental factors and blood pressure levels highlights the importance of considering the amount of adipose tissue in the prevention and treatment of obesity.