Correlational analysis of physical activity levels and sport participation: research with twins and families

Abstract

This essay reports on the terminological diversity of the concepts of physical activity (PA) and sport participation (SP), as well as the variety of methods used to assess these parameters in studies on familial aggregation. In addition, it describes the results of research studies using family and twin designs. The PubMed, Scopus, SportsDiscus, Web of Science, and SciELO databases were used to search for information, and references identified from the retrieved articles were also considered. Systematic reviews of the genetic effects on PA and SP with quantitative information of heritability, genomewide linkage studies, studies on associations among candidate genes, genomewide association studies, editorials, letters to the editor, case studies, laboratory studies, studies that did not report PA and SP in families or twins, and studies about pleiotropy were excluded. The results show a large terminological diversity on the concepts of PA and SP, as well as on the methods of assessing these parameters. Furthermore, the magnitude of familial aggregation in PA and SP varies considerably, indicating the presence of environmental factors (physical and/or social) that can and should be considered important when explaining the variability of these phenotypes in a population. Likewise, future research should standardize the terms and measurements used for PA and SP in familial aggregation studies. In addition, it should investigate the type of influence that genetic variants and environmental factors may exert on these phenotypes.