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Sedentary Behaviour Epidemiology pp 617–628Cite as

Genetics of Sedentariness

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Part of the book series: Springer Series on Epidemiology and Public Health ((SSEH))

Abstract

The genetic investigation of sedentary behaviour is only recent and greatly lags behind that of other health behaviours. This section will review the available literature on the genetics of sedentary behaviour. First, the classical twin design will be outlined, and twin studies will be summarized that decompose the variance of sedentary behaviour into genetic and environmental variance. Second, it will be shown how twin studies can contribute to a better understanding of the consequences of sedentary behaviour by explicitly testing causality between this behaviour and health outcomes. Finally, molecular genetic studies will be outlined that aim to find the actual genetic variants that affect sedentary behaviour. We conclude that sedentary behaviour is partly heritable (~30%) but can also be affected by the environment that is shared between siblings. Paucity of studies and heterogeneity in the age ranges studied and measures used make it challenging to provide stable estimates for heritability and environmental influences. To date, no genetic markers have been reliably associated with sedentary behaviour.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    FTO gene: fat mass and obesity-associated gene

  2. 2.

    DRD2 gene: dopamine receptor D2 gene

  3. 3.

    MC4R gene: melanocortin 4 receptor gene

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public and Occupational Health, VU University Medical Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

    Charlotte Huppertz & Hidde P. van der Ploeg

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany

    Charlotte Huppertz

  3. Department of Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

    Eco J. C. de Geus

  4. Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

    Eco J. C. de Geus & Hidde P. van der Ploeg

Authors
  1. Charlotte Huppertz
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  2. Eco J. C. de Geus
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  3. Hidde P. van der Ploeg
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Correspondence to Charlotte Huppertz .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Universität Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany

    Michael F. Leitzmann

  2. Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Universität Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany

    Carmen Jochem

  3. Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Universität Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany

    Daniela Schmid

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Huppertz, C., de Geus, E.J.C., van der Ploeg, H.P. (2018). Genetics of Sedentariness. In: Leitzmann, M., Jochem, C., Schmid, D. (eds) Sedentary Behaviour Epidemiology. Springer Series on Epidemiology and Public Health. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61552-3_27

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61552-3_27

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-61550-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-61552-3

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