The DOI matches its Crossref record; 31 of the 33 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
An Adoption Study of Human Obesity
Abstract
We examined the contributions of genetic factors and the family environment to human fatness in a sample of 540 adult Danish adoptees who were selected from a population of 3580 and divided into four weight classes: thin, median weight, overweight, and obese. There was a strong relation between the weight class of the adoptees and the body-mass index of their biologic parents - for the mothers, P less than 0.0001; for the fathers, P less than 0.02. There was no relation between the weight class of the adoptees and the body-mass index of their adoptive parents. Cumulative distributions of the body-mass index of parents showed similar results; there was a strong relation between the body-mass index of biologic parents and adoptee weight class and no relation between the index of adoptive parents and adoptee weight class. Furthermore, the relation between biologic parents and adoptees was not confined to the obesity weight class, but was present across the whole range of body fatness - from very thin to very fat. We conclude that genetic influences have an important role in determining human fatness in adults, whereas the family environment alone has no apparent effect.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“A dominant role of genetic factors in obesity pathogenesis has also been demonstrated in studies comparing the concordance of body weight among fraternal versus identical twins91, for example, as well as studies of adults adopted as infants compared with their biological and adoptive parents77,92.”
From Joint international consensus statement for ending stigma of obesity (2020) · cites this paper as [92]
Citations
Cites
Indices of relative weight and obesity
Keys, A. B., Fidanza, F., Karvonen, M. J., Kimura, N., & TAYLOR, H. L. (1972) · Journal of Chronic Diseases · doi:10.1016/0021-9681(72)90027-6 · Cited by 2,085
Use of the Danish Adoption Register for the study of obesity and thinness.
Stunkard, A. J., Sørensen, T. I. A., & D, F. S. M. (1983) · PubMed · Cited by 1,773
Self-citationThe Science and Politics of IQ
Fulker, D., & Kamin, L. J. (1975) · The American Journal of Psychology · doi:10.2307/1421782 · Cited by 1,001
Kety, S. S., Rosenthal, D., Wender, P. H., & D, F. S. M. (1968) · Journal of Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1016/0022-3956(68)90026-5 · Cited by 715
COMPARISON OF SELF-REPORTED AND MEASURED HEIGHT AND WEIGHT
Palta, M., Prineas, R. J., Berman, R., & Hannan, P. J. (1982) · American Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a113294 · Cited by 641
The accuracy of self-reported weights
Stunkard, A. J., & Albaum, J. (1981) · American Journal of Clinical Nutrition · doi:10.1093/ajcn/34.8.1593 · Cited by 624
Self-citationDrinking Problems in Adopted and Nonadopted Sons of Alcoholics
Goodwin, D. W. (1974) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1974.01760140022003 · Cited by 505
Childhood Antecedents of Adult Obesity
Charney, E., Goodman, H. C., McBride, M. C., Lyon, B., Pratt, R., Breese, B. B., Disney, F. A., & Marx, K. (1976) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejm197607012950102 · Cited by 459
THE NHLBI TWIN STUDY OF CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE RISK FACTORS: METHODOLOGY AND SUMMARY OF RESULTS
Feinleib, M., Garrison, R. J., Fabsitz, R. R., Christian, J. C., Hrubec, Z., Borhani, N. O., Kannel, W. B., Rosenman, R. H., Schwartz, J. T., & Wagner, J. O. (1977) · American Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a112464 · Cited by 449
Mental Illness in the Biological and Adoptive Families of Adopted Schizophrenics
Kety, S. S., ROSENTHAL, D., Wender, P. H., & D, F. S. M. (1971) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/ajp.128.3.302 · Cited by 235
Psychopathy: Heredity and Environment
Schulsinger, F. (1972) · International Journal of Mental Health · doi:10.1080/00207411.1972.11448574 · Cited by 201
Self-citationScarr, S. W., Webber, P. L., Weinberg, R. A., & Wittig, M. A. (1981) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.40.5.885 · Cited by 192
Influence of heredity and environment in determination of skinfold thickness in children.
Brook, C. G. D., Huntley, R. M., & Slack, J. (1975) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.2.5973.719 · Cited by 157
THE AETIOLOGY OF OBESITY IN CHILDREN A Study of 101 Twin Pairs
BÖRJESON, M. (1976) · Acta Paediatrica · doi:10.1111/j.1651-2227.1976.tb04887.x · Cited by 144
The accuracy of reports of weight: children's recall of their parents' weights 15 years earlier.
Sørensen, T. I. A., Stunkard, A. J., Teasdale, T. W., & HIGGINS, M. W. (1983) · PubMed · Cited by 126
Self-citationReliability and validity of self-report and observers' estimates of relative weight
Wing, R. R., Epstein, L. H., Ossip, D. J., & LaPorte, R. E. (1979) · Addictive Behaviors · doi:10.1016/0306-4603(79)90047-9 · Cited by 96
Genetics, Environment and Psychopathology
Mednick, S. A. (1974) · Cited by 91
Comparison of self-reported height and weight with controlled height and weight in women and men.
Schlichting, P., Pf, H.-C., & QUAADE, F. (1981) · PubMed · Cited by 89
Medlund, P., Cederlöf, R., FLODERUS-MYRHED, B., Friberg, L., & Sørensen, S. T. (1976) · PubMed · Cited by 86
Social class correlations among adoptees and their biological and adoptive parents
Teasdale, T. W. (1979) · Behavior Genetics · doi:10.1007/bf01074329 · Cited by 80
Self-citationGENETIC ASPECTS OF INTELLIGENCE
Lewontin, R. C. (1975) · Annual Review of Genetics · doi:10.1146/annurev.ge.09.120175.002131 · Cited by 74
Relative importance of the effect of family environment and heredity on obesity
Hartz, A. J., Giefer, E. E., & Rimm, A. A. (1977) · Annals of Human Genetics · doi:10.1111/j.1469-1809.1977.tb01913.x · Cited by 68
Problems in the genetics of human obesity.
WITHERS, R. F. J. (1964) · PubMed Central · Cited by 67
Post-War course of the prevalence of extreme overweight among Danish young men
Sonne‐Holm, S., & Sørensen, T. I. A. (1977) · Journal of Chronic Diseases · doi:10.1016/0021-9681(77)90029-7 · Cited by 66
Self-citationCoates, T. J., Jeffery, R. W., & Wing, R. R. (1978) · Addictive Behaviors · doi:10.1016/0306-4603(78)90016-3 · Cited by 61
FAMILIAL AGGREGATION OF BLOOD PRESSURE AND WEIGHT IN ADOPTIVE FAMILIES
Annest, J. L., Sing, C. F., BIRON, P., & Mongeau, J. G. (1983) · American Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a113567 · Cited by 54
Effect of parental fatness levels on the fatness of biological and adoptive children
Garn, S. M., Cole, P. E., & Bailey, S. M. (1977) · Ecology of Food and Nutrition · doi:10.1080/03670244.1977.9990485 · Cited by 51
GENETIC FACTORS IN HUMAN OBESITY
Mayer, J. (1965) · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.1965.tb34807.x · Cited by 44
Constant median body mass index of Danish young men, 1943-1977.
Christensen, U., Sonne‐Holm, S., & Sørensen, T. I. A. (1981) · PubMed · Cited by 30
Self-citationFabsitz, R. R., Feinleib, M., & Hrubec, Z. (1980) · Acta geneticae medicae et gemellologiae · doi:10.1017/s0001566000007789 · Cited by 22
Some aspects of adoption in selected samples of adult adoptees.
Eldred, C. A., Rosenthal, D., Wender, P. H., Kety, S. S., Schulsinger, F., Welner, J., & Jacobsen, B. (1976) · American Journal of Orthopsychiatry · doi:10.1111/j.1939-0025.1976.tb00928.x · Cited by 22
Self-citation
Research works printed but not linked: 9
- Medlund, 1976, Acta Med Scand [Suppl], 600, 1
- Withers, 1964, Eugen Rev, 56, 81
- Schlichting, 1981, Int J Obesity, 5, 67
- Sørensen, 1982, Int J Obesity, 7, 115
- Snedecor GW, Cochran WG. Statistical methods. 7th ed. Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Press, 1980.
- Sclafani A. Dietary obesity. In: Stunkard AJ, ed. Obesity. Philadelphia: WB Saunders, 1980:166–81.
- Christensen, 1981, Hum Biol, 53, 403
- Mednick SA, Schulsinger F, Higgins J, Bell B, eds. Genetics, environment and psychopathology. New York: American Elsevier, 1974.
- Behrman RE, Vaughan VC III, eds. Nelson textbook of pediatrics. 12th ed. Philadelphia: WB Saunders, 1983.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Lippa, N. C., & Sanderson, S. C. (2013) · Human Heredity · doi:10.1159/000353712 · Cited by 6,095
The Spread of Obesity in a Large Social Network over 32 Years
Christakis, N. A., & Fowler, J. H. (2007) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejmsa066082 · Cited by 5,007
Poirier, P., Giles, T. D., Bray, G. A., Hong, Y., Stern, J. S., Pi-Sunyer, F. X., & Eckel, R. H. (2006) · Circulation · doi:10.1161/circulationaha.106.171016 · Cited by 3,165
Socioeconomic Status and Obesity: A Review of the Literature
Sobal, J., & Stunkard, A. J. (1989) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.105.2.260 · Cited by 2,346
Self-citationWhere is the child's environment? A group socialization theory of development.
Harris, J. R. (1995) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.102.3.458 · Cited by 1,885
Metadata
- Authors
- Stunkard, A. J., Sørensen, T. I. A., Hanis, C., Teasdale, T. W., Chakraborty, R., Schull, W. J., & Schulsinger, F.
- Venue
- New England Journal of Medicine
- Publisher
- Massachusetts Medical Society
- Published
- 1986-01-23
- Volume
- 314
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 193-198
- ISSN
- 0028-4793 (ISSN-L)
- 1533-4406
- OpenAlex
- W2335145280
- Cited by
- 1,318
- References
- 33
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 37 · 2022: 28 · 2021: 27 · 2020: 30 · 2019: 24 · 2018: 28 · 2017: 20 · 2016: 36 · 2015: 41 · 2014: 43 · 2013: 45 · 2012: 37
- FWCI
- 26.88
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- New England Journal of Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (AM 26607)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic Associations and Epidemiology
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetics and Physical Performance
- Keywords
- obesity, body mass index, genetic factors, family environment, adopted children, biological parents, adoptive parents, heritability of obesity
- MeSH terms
- Adoption, Adult, Body Weight, Denmark, Environment, Family, Female, Humans, Male, Obesity
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review