Table 4.
Tetrachoric correlations between MZ and DZ twins for selected eating behaviors
| Variable | Age | n (twin pairs) |
Tetrachoric correlations |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MZ | DZ | |||
| Does not eat enough |
2.5 |
346 |
0.91 (0.81, 1.00)* |
0.46 (0.19, 0.72) |
| |
9 |
345 |
0.67 (0.45, 0.90)* |
−0.09 (−0.43, 0.26) |
| Eats too much |
2.5 |
346 |
0.88 (0.75, 1.00)* |
0.43 (0.10, 0.75) |
| |
9 |
345 |
0.52 (0.25, 0.80) |
0.19 (−0.09, 0.47) |
| Eats too fast |
2.5 |
346 |
0.72 (0.52, 0.92) |
0.34 (0.08, 0.60) |
| |
9 |
346 |
0.50 (0.27, 0.74)* |
−0.02 (−0.27, 0.23) |
| Refuses to eat |
2.5 |
346 |
0.85 (0.73, 0.96) |
0.56 (0.39, 0.74) |
| |
9 |
345 |
0.82 (0.64, 0.99) |
0.47 (0.21, 0.73) |
| Fussy about food |
2.5 |
346 |
0.84 (0.65, 1.00) |
0.61 (0.37, 0.86) |
| |
9 |
346 |
0.85 (0.68, 1.00)* |
−0.02 (−0.38, 0.34) |
| Eats at irregular hours |
2.5 |
346 |
0.98 (0.95, 1.00) |
0.95 (0.86, 1.00) |
| |
9 |
346 |
0.89 (0.74, 1.00) |
0.74 (0.54, 0.95) |
| Eats between meals |
2.5 |
344 |
0.96 (0.92, 1.00) |
0.84 (0.73, 0.94) |
| |
9 |
346 |
0.81 (0.68, 0.94)* |
0.46 (0.24, 0.68) |
| Eats a different meal |
2.5 |
344 |
1.00 (0.99, 1.00) |
1.00 (0.99, 1.00) |
| |
9 |
345 |
0.70 (0.48, 0.91) |
0.71 (0.54, 0.88) |
| Skips breakfast |
9 |
346 |
0.89 (0.73, 1.00) |
0.77 (0.59, 0.95) |
| Fussy about vegetables |
9 |
267 |
0.75 (0.57, 0.92)* |
0.29 (0.02, 0.56) |
| Fussy about fruit |
9 |
346 |
0.69 (0.46, 0.93) |
0.50 (0.25, 0.76) |
| Fussy about whole-grain bread | 9 | 345 | 0.80 (0.64, 0.95) | 0.87 (0.78, 0.96) |
*MZ is significantly different from DZ (P < 0.05). 95% CIs in parentheses.