人类学学报 ›› 2025, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (04): 661-673.doi: 10.16359/j.1000-3193/AAS.2025.0002cstr: 32091.14.j.1000-3193/AAS.2025.0002

• 研究论文 • 上一篇    下一篇

以双生子为例探究遗传因素对儿童与青少年体格发育的影响

李玉玲(), 肖阳, 刘晓敏   

  1. 内蒙古师范大学生命科学与技术学院,呼和浩特 010022
  • 收稿日期:2022-04-08 接受日期:2024-05-15 出版日期:2025-08-15 发布日期:2025-08-07
  • 作者简介:李玉玲,教授,主要从事体质人类学与儿少卫生学研究。E-mail: liyuling137@163.com
  • 基金资助:
    国家自然科学基金项目(30960167);国家自然科学基金项目(31260265);内蒙古自治区自然科学基金项目(2019MS08166)

Exploring the influence of genetic factors on the physical development of children and adolescents using twins as an example

LI Yuling(), XIAO Yang, LIU Xiaomin   

  1. Institute of Life Science and Technology, Inner Mongolia Normal University, Hohhot 010022
  • Received:2022-04-08 Accepted:2024-05-15 Online:2025-08-15 Published:2025-08-07

摘要:

本文以双生子研究为例,概述了遗传因素对儿童青少年体格发育的影响。研究发现:1)多数头面部指标受遗传因素影响较大。2)身高、坐高等体格线性指标所受的遗传影响普遍高于围度、宽度、体质量、皮褶厚度和体成分等指标;部分体格指标的遗传度存在性别差异且大多男生高于女生。3)各体格指标在快速发育时期对环境因素更敏感,遗传因素在生长发育越接近个体成熟阶段表现越充分。4)比较不同研究生长发育指标的遗传度时,应考虑双生子样本构成、遗传度估算方法等因素。以往研究表明,儿童青少年体格发育是遗传与环境因素共同作用的结果。未来通过现代分子生物学方法,结合细致的环境因素分析,可更充分地发挥双生子研究的价值。

关键词: 双生子, 遗传度, 儿童, 青少年, 体格发育

Abstract:

Twin study is one of the important classical methods in human genetics. Taking twins as an example, this paper summarizes the influence of genetic factors on the physical development of children and adolescents. The results show that: 1) Almost all physical development characteristics are controlled by polygenic inheritance and are the result of the combined effects of genetic and environmental factors. Most craniofacial characteristics, such as head circumference, head length, and head width, are influenced by genetic factors to some extent. The heritability of head circumference is very low at birth, but generally at a high level (>0.60) after one year old, and mostly above 0.70 after six years old. There are certain gender differences in the heritability of some craniofacial indexes like head length and head breadth. 2) In terms of body development characteristics, the genetic influence on height and sitting height is generally higher than that on circumference, width, body mass, skinfold thickness, and body composition at the same age. Generally, the heritability of various physical indexes is very low at birth, then increases with age, often decreases during rapid development, and increases again towards adulthood. However, the heritability range of the body mass index in adolescent twins of most ethnic groups is 0.60~0.85, which is higher than that in childhood and adulthood. There are gender differences in the heritability of some physical indexes, and for most of them, boys have higher heritability than girls. However, the heritability of somatotype for girls is significantly higher than that of boys, especially in the endomorphic and ectomorphic components. For boys, the mesomorphic component is mainly determined by genetic factors, while the other components are mainly affected by environmental factors. 3) The heritabilities of most variables are the lowest during the growth-spurt period and tend to be the highest subsequently. This indicates that physical development is much more sensitive to environmental factors during the growth-spurt period, and the genetic effect seems to be exerted when a person approaches maturity. 4) When comparing the heritability of development indicators, we should consider the composition of the twin sample, the different methods of heritability estimation, and their performance characteristics. Previous studies have shown that the physical development of children and adolescents is closely related to genetic factors and is the outcome of the combined action of genetic and environmental factors. It is believed that the value of twin research can be more fully demonstrated by modern molecular biology methods, combined with a detailed analysis of environmental factors.

Key words: twins, heritability, child, adolescent, physical development

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