Table 1 Heritability measures (best fit model) of traits related to ARFID presentation. A summary of twin/family study derived heritability estimates
| References | Age range | Study metrics | Specific behaviour or trait | Additive genetic variance (a2) | Non-additive genetic variance (d2) | Shared environmental variance (c2) | Non-shared environmental variance (e2) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fildes et al. (2014) [107] | 3.5 ± 0.27 y |
Gemini Study: 1343 twin pairs, n = 458 [MZ], n = 872 [DZ], 50.4% female Instrument: 114 item parent-report questionnaire on food preferences | Vegetable preference | 0.54 (0.47–0.63) | – | 0.35 (0.27–0.42) | 0.11 (0.10–0.13) |
| Fruit preference | 0.53 (0.45–0.61) | – | 0.35 (0.26–0.43) | 0.13 (0.11–0.15) | |||
| Protein preference | 0.48 (0.40–0.57) | – | 0.37 (0.27–0.45) | 0.15 (0.13–0.17) | |||
| Dairy preference | 0.54 (0.47–0.60) | – | 0.54 (0.47–0.60) | 0.19 (0.16–0.22) | |||
| Starch preference | 0.32 (0.26–0.38) | – | 0.57 (0.51–0.62) | 0.11 (0.10–0.13) | |||
| Breen et al. (2006) [108] | 4–5 y |
Twins Early Development Study (TEDS): 214 same-sex twin pairs, n = 103 [MZ] n = 111 [DZ], 52% female Instrument: Mother-report questionnaire on food preferences (95 food items) | Vegetable preference | 0.37 (0.2–0.58) | – | 0.51 (0.30–0.66) | 0.13 (.09–.17) |
| Dessert preference | 0.2 (0.04–0.38) | – | 0.64 (0.46–0.77) | 0.16 (.12–.22) | |||
| Meat and fish preference | 0.78 (0.63–0.92) | – | 0.12 (0.00–0.27) | 0.10 (.08–.12) | |||
| Fruit preference | 0.51 (0.37–0.68) | – | 0.32 (0.16–0.46) | 0.17 (.14–.20) | |||
| Liu et al. (2013) [59] | 11–13 y |
University of Southern California (USC) Twin study: 358 twin pairs, n = 188 [MZ], n = 170 [DZ] Instrument: 3 day food diary | Fat intake | 0.44 (0.28–0.58) | – | – | 0.56 (0.42–0.72) |
| Protein intake | 0.31 (0.13–0.47) | – | – | 0.69 (0.53–0.88) | |||
| Carbohydrate intake | 0.43 (0.25–0.58) | – | – | 0.57 (0.42–0.75) | |||
| Mineral intake | 0.45 (0.29–0.59) | – | – | 0.55 (0.41–0.71) | |||
| Vitamin intake | 0.21 (0.00–0.41) | – | 0.04 (0.00–0.34) | 0.75 (0.59–0.93) | |||
| Fildes et al. (2016) [63] | 3.5 ± 0.3 y |
Gemini Study: 1330 twin pairs, n = 458 [MZ], n = 872 [DZ], 50.5% female Instrument: 114 item parent report questionnaire on food preferences [107] + CEBQ [109] | Food fussiness | 0.78 (0.73–82) | – | 0.05 (0.02–0.09) | 0.17 (0.15–0.2) |
| Smith et al. (2017) [64] | 16 m |
Gemini Study: 1932 twin pairs, n = 626 [MZ], n = 1306 [DZ], 50.6% female Instrument: Parent-report CEBQ | Food fussiness | 0.46 (0.41–0.52) | – | 0.46 (0.40–0.51) | 0.09 (0.08–0.10) |
| Food neophobia | 0.58 (0.5–0.67) | – | 0.22 (0.14–0.30) | 0.19 (0.17–0.22) | |||
| Cooke et al. (2007) [65] | 8–11 y |
Twins Early Development Study (TEDS): 5390 twin pairs, n = 1913 [MZ], 3477 [DZ], 51.4% female Instrument: 4 item version of CFNS [110] | Food neophobia | 0.78 (0.76–0.79) | – | – | 0.22 (0.21–0.24) |
| Knaapila et al. (2007) [66] | Adult |
Migraine family study—28 Finnish families: 105 females, 50 males Instrument: FNS [110] (10 item version) + FNS-R (6 item version of FNS) | Food neophobia |
FNS 0.69* | – | 0.31 | |
|
FNSR 0.66 * | – | 0.34 | |||||
|
UK adult twin registry: 468 female twin pairs, n = 211 [MZ], n = 257 [DZ] Instrument: FNS [90] (10 item version) + FNS-R (6 item version of FNS) | Food neophobia |
FNS 0.10 (0.00–0.56) | 0.56 (0.09–0.73) | – | 0.33 (0.27–0.41) | ||
|
FNSR 0.13 (0.00–0.59) | 0.53 (0.06–0.72) | – | 0.34 (0.28–0.41) | ||||
| Llewellyn et al. (2010) [111] | Infant (~ 8 m) |
Gemini Study: 2334 twin pairs, n = 729 [MZ], n = 1605 [DZ} Instrument: BEBQ (17 items)[112] | Rate of eating | 0.84 (0.79–0.86) | – | 0.00 (0.0–0.05) | 0.16 (0.14–0.17) |
| Satiety responsiveness | 0.72 (0.65–0.80) | – | 0.12 (0.05–0.19) | 0.16 (0.14, 0.17) | |||
| Feeding responsiveness | 0.59 (0.52–0.65) | – | 0.30 (0.24, 0.36) | 0.11 (0.10, 0.13) | |||
| Enjoyment of food | 0.53 (0.43–0.63 | – | 0.45 (0.35, 0.54) | 0.03 (0.02, 0.04) | |||
| Herle et al. (2017) [113] | 5 y | Gemini Study: 1027 twin pairs, n = 346 [MZ], n = 681 [DZ]. Instrument: CEBQ | Emotional over eating | 0.07 (0.06–0.09) | – | 0.90 (0.89–0.92) | 0.02 (0.02–0.03) |
| Emotional under eating | 0.07 (0.06–0.09) | – | 0.91 (0.90–0.92) | 0.02 (0.02–0.02) | |||
| Taylor et al. (2018) [114] | 9–12 y |
Child and Adolescent Twin Study in Sweden (CATSS): 12,419 twin pairs, n = 3586 [MZ], n = 8833 [DZ] Instrument: A-TAC Perception module (5 items) [115] | Sensory reactivity |
Males 0.71 (0.68–0.74) | – | – | 0.29 (0.26–0.32) |
|
Females 0.66 (0.61–0.69) | – | – | 0.34 (0.31–0.39) |