Health and Wellbeing

Dinescu D, Horn EE, Duncan G, Turkheimer E Objective Individual measures of socioeconomic status (SES) suppress genetic variance in body mass index (BMI). Our objective was to examine the influence of both individual-level (i.e., educational attainment, household income) and macrolevel (i.e., neighborhood socioeconomic advantage) SES indicators on genetic contributions to BMI. Method The study used […]

Jelenkovic A, Craig JM, Sumathipala A, Harden KP, Cozen W, Mack TM, Hopper JL, Duncan GE, Buchwald D, Sung J, Harris JR, Busjahn A, Goldberg JH, Kaprio J, Silventoinen K, et al. A trend toward greater body size in dizygotic (DZ) than in monozygotic (MZ) twins has been suggested by some but not all studies, and this difference […]

The Cohort Description of Collaborative Project of Development of Anthropometrical Measures in Twins to Study Macro-Environmental Variation in Genetic and Environmental Effects on Anthropometric Traits Silventoinen K, Craig JM, Sumathipala A, Harden KP, Cozen W, Mack TM, Hopper JL, Duncan GE, Buchwald D, Sung J, Harris JR, Busjahn A, Goldberg JH, Kaprio J, et al. […]

Horn EE, Turkheimer E, Strachan E, Duncan GE Body mass index (BMI) has a strong genetic basis, with a heritability around 0.75, but is also influenced by numerous behavioral and environmental factors. Aspects of the built environment (e.g., environmental walkability) are hypothesized to influence obesity by directly affecting BMI, by facilitating or inhibiting behaviors such […]

Cohen-Cline H, Turkheimer E, Duncan GE Increasing global urbanisation has resulted in a greater proportion of the world’s population becoming exposed to risk factors unique to urban areas, and understanding these effects on public health is essential. The aim of this study was to examine the association between access to green space and mental health […]

Enriquez E, Duncan GE, Schur E Using a twin study design, we sought to determine whether an early age at dieting onset is a risk factor for higher adult body mass index (BMI) or use of risky dieting practices, independent of genetic and familial factors. Female twins ages 18-60 years (N=950) from the University of Washington […]

Holley AL, Law EF, Tham SW, Myaing M, Noonan C, Strachan E, Palermo TM Chronic pain is common during adolescence and young adulthood and is associated with poor quality of life, depression, and functional disability. Recognizing that chronic pain has significant consequences, it is important to identify modifiable health behaviors that may place young adults […]

Strachan E, Hunt C, Afari N, Duncan G, Noonan C, Schur E, Watson N, Goldberg J, Buchwald D The University of Washington Twin Registry is a unique community-based registry of twin pairs who join specifically to participate in scientific research. It was founded in 2002 to serve as a resource for investigators throughout the scientific […]