Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder Driven by Genetics

THURSDAY, Feb. 16, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) is highly heritable, according to a study published online Feb. 1 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Lisa Dinkler, Ph.D., from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, and colleagues estimated the extent to which genetic and environmental factors contribute to the broad ARFID phenotype. The analysis included 16,951 twin pairs born between 1992 and 2010 participating in the Child and Adolescent Twin Study in Sweden at age 9 or 12 years.

Two percent of children with the ARFID phenotype were identified. The heritability of ARFID was 0.79, but nonshared environmental factors also contributed significantly (0.21). When excluding children with autism or medical illnesses that could account for the eating disturbance, heritability remained similar (0.77 and 0.79, respectively).

"This study shows that, given the similar prevalence figures and sex distribution, existing register-based epidemiological data may be used to approximate ARFID and that the resulting broad ARFID phenotype is highly heritable -- with significant contributions from nonshared environmental factors -- and distinguishable from other eating disorders characterized by fear of weight gain and older average age of onset," the authors write. "The high heritability of the ARFID phenotype provides strong support for future twin and molecular genetic studies of ARFID."

Several authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

Abstract/Full Text