Gene–environment interactions related to body mass

School policies and social context as environmental moderators

Bibliographic Data

ID6299785
AuthorsJ D Boardman (0000-0002-4786-125X, Institute of Behavioral Science and Department of Sociology, University of Colorado at Boulder, USA), Michael E Roettger (0000-0002-8253-5927, Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado at Boulder, USA), B W Domínguez (0000-0002-3894-9049, Institute of Behavioral Science and School of Education, University of Colorado at Boulder, USA), Matthew B Mcqueen (0000-0002-7035-6112, University of Colorado Boulder), Brett C Haberstick (Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado at Boulder, USA), Kathleen Mullan Harris (0000-0001-9757-1026, Department of Sociology, University of North Carolina, USA)
Year2012
Volume24
Issue3
Pages370-388
Publication date2012-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Theoretical Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0951-6298 • E-ISSN: 1460-3667
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0951629812437751
PMID23236222
PMCIDPMC3518081
OpenAlexW2025109595
LanguageEN
Citations received25
References cited46

This paper highlights the role of institutional resources and policies, whose origins lie in political processes, in shaping the genetic etiology of body mass among a national sample of adolescents. Using data from Waves I and II of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we decompose the variance of body mass into environmental and genetic components. We then examine the extent to which the genetic influences on body mass are different across the 134 schools in the study. Taking advantage of school differences in both health-related policies and social norms regarding body size, we examine how institutional resources and policies alter the relative impact of genetic influences on body mass. For the entire sample, we estimate a heritability of .82, with the remaining .18 due to unique environmental factors. However, we also show variation about this estimate and provide evidence suggesting that social norms and institutional policies often mask genetic vulnerabilities to increased weight. Empirically, we demonstrate that more restrictive school policies and policies designed to curb weight gain are also associated with decreases in the proportion of variance in body mass that is due to additive genetic influences

Biology · Context (archaeology · Demographic economics · Economics · Evolutionary biology · Heritability · Political science · Public economics · Social environment · Variance (accounting · Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet · Psychology