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McAdams, Tom/0000-0002-6825-3499; Skytthe, Axel E/0000-0002-8629-4913; Kandler, Christian/0000-0002-9175-235X; Siribaddana, Sisira/0000-0001-5821-2557; Tan, Qihua/0000-0003-3194-0030; Huibregtse, Brooke M./0000-0003-0977-7249; Fagnani, Corrado/0000-0001-5771-7772; Montgomery, Grant W/0000-0002-4140-8139; Kaprio, Jaakko/0000-0002-3716-2455; Hjelmborg, Jacob/0000-0001-9630-9149; Medland, Sarah E/0000-0003-1382-380X; Christensen, Kaare/0000-0002-5429-5292; Tan, Qihua/0000-0003-3194-0030; Ahrenfeldt, Linda/0000-0002-5018-1642; Ordonana, Juan R./0000-0001-7779-6017; Loos, Ruth J F/0000-0002-8532-5087; Magnusson, Patrik/0000-0002-7315-7899; Aliev, Fazil/0000-0001-8357-4699; Busjahn, Andreas/0000-0001-9650-6919; Colodro-Conde, Lucia/0000-0002-9004-364X; ROMERA, JUAN FRANCISCO SANCHEZ/0000-0002-5405-6216; ONCEL, Sevgi YURT/0000-0002-0990-292X; Rebato, Esther/0000-0003-1221-8501; Pedersen, Nancy/0000-0001-8057-3543; Pietilainen, Kirsi/0000-0002-8522-1288; van Beijsterveldt, Toos/0000-0002-6617-4201; Willemsen, Gonneke/0000-0003-3755-0236; Bartels, Meike/0000-0002-9667-7555; Kyvik, Kirsten Ohm/0000-0003-2981-0245; Vuoksimaa, Eero/0000-0002-6534-3667; Pahlen, Shandell/0000-0003-0753-4155; Silventoinen, Karri/0000-0003-1759-3079 WOS: 000400473600001 PubMed: 28465822 Background: The comparison of traits in twins from opposite-sex (OS) and same-sex (SS) dizygotic twin pairs is considered a proxy measure of prenatal hormone exposure. To examine possible prenatal hormonal influences on anthropometric traits, we compared mean height, body mass index (BMI), and the prevalence of being overweight or obese between men and women from OS and SS dizygotic twin pairs. Methods: The data were derived from the COllaborative project of Development of Anthropometrical measures in Twins (CODATwins) database, and included 68,494 SS and 53,808 OS dizygotic twin individuals above the age of 20 years from 31 twin cohorts representing 19 countries. Zygosity was determined by questionnaires or DNA genotyping depending on the study. Multiple regression and logistic regression models adjusted for cohort, age, and birth year with the twin type as a predictor were carried out to compare height and BMI in twins from OS pairs with those from SS pairs and to calculate the adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for being overweight or obese. Results: OS females were, on average, 0.31 cm (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.20, 0.41) taller than SS females. OS males were also, on average, taller than SS males, but this difference was only 0.14 cm (95% CI 0.02, 0.27). Mean BMI and the prevalence of overweight or obesity did not differ between males and females from SS and OS twin pairs. The statistically significant differences between OS and SS twins for height were small and appeared to reflect our large sample size rather than meaningful differences of public health relevance. Conclusions: We found no evidence to support the hypothesis that prenatal hormonal exposure or postnatal socialization (i.e., having grown up with a twin of the opposite sex) has a major impact on height and BMI in adulthood. Centre of Research Excellence from the National Health and Medical Research CouncilNational Health and Medical Research Council of Australia [1079102]; California Tobacco-Related Disease Research ProgramUniversity of California System [7RT-0134H, 8RT-0107H, 6RT-0354H]; National Institutes of HealthUnited States Department of Health & Human ServicesNational Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA [1R01ESO15150-01]; National Institute on AgingUnited States Department of Health & Human ServicesNational Institutes of Health (NIH) - USANIH National Institute on Aging (NIA) [1RO1-AG13662-01A2]; NIDAUnited States Department of Health & Human ServicesNational Institutes of Health (NIH) - USANIH National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) [DA011015]; Longitudinal Twin Study [HD10333]; National Program for Research Infrastructure from the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation; Research Council for Health and Disease; Velux Foundation; US National Institute of HealthUnited States Department of Health & Human ServicesNational Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA [P01 AG08761]; MagW/ZonMW [04-61-090, 985-10-002, 912-10-020, 904-61-193, 480-04-004, 463-06-001, 451-04-034, 400-05-717, Addiction-31160008, Middelgroot-911-09-032, Spinozapremie 56-464-14192]; VU University's Institute for Health and Care Research (EMGO+); European Research CouncilEuropean Research Council (ERC) [ERC-230374]; Avera Institute; Sioux Falls; South Dakota (USA); National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and AlcoholismUnited States Department of Health & Human ServicesNational Institutes of Health (NIH) - USANIH National Institute on Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism (NIAAA) [AA-12502, AA-00145, AA-09203]; Academy of Finland Center of Excellence in Complex Disease GeneticsAcademy of Finland [213506, 129680]; Academy of FinlandAcademy of Finland [100499, 205585, 118555, 141054, 265240, 263278, 264146]; Osaka University's International Joint Research Promotion Program; Fund of Scientific Research, Flanders and Twins; W T Grant Foundation; University of London Central Research fund; Medical Research Council Training FellowshipMedical Research Council UK (MRC) [G81/343]; Career Development Award [G120/635]; Economic and Social Research CouncilEconomic & Social Research Council (ESRC) [RES-00022-2206]; Institute of Social Psychiatry [06/07-11]; Leverhulme Research FellowshipLeverhulme Trust [RF/2/RFG/2008/0145]; Goldsmiths, University of London; Medexpert Ltd., Budapest, Hungary; Fundacion Seneca, Regional Agency for Science and Technology, Murcia, Spain [08633/PHCS/08, 15302/PHCS/10, 19479/PI/14]; Ministry of Science and Innovation SpainSpanish Government [PSI2009-11560, PSI2014-56680-R]; National Institute of Mental HealthUnited States Department of Health & Human ServicesNational Institutes of Health (NIH) - USANIH National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) [R01 MH58354]; National Research Foundation of KoreaNational Research Foundation of Korea [NRF-371-2011-1 B0004/]; Kirikkale University, KKUKirikkale University [2009/43]; TUBITAKTurkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [114C117]; Washington State Twin Registry [NIH RC2 HL103416]; Japan Society for the Promotion of ScienceMinistry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan (MEXT)Japan Society for the Promotion of Science [15H05105]; ENGAGE-European Network for Genetic and Genomic Epidemiology [201413]; [5T32DA01/63/-11]; Novo Nordisk FondenNovo NordiskNovo Nordisk Foundation [NNF10CC1016515] This study was conducted within the CODATwins project (Academy of Finland #266592). The lead author wishes to thank the Juho Vainio Foundation and the Yrjo Jahnsson Foundation. The Australian Twin Registry is supported by a Centre of Research Excellence (grant ID 1079102) from the National Health and Medical Research Council administered by the University of Melbourne. California Twin Program was supported by The California Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program (7RT-0134H, 8RT-0107H, 6RT-0354H) and the National Institutes of Health (1R01ESO15150-01). The Carolina African American Twin Study of Aging (CAATSA) was funded by a grant from the National Institute on Aging (grant 1RO1-AG13662-01A2) to K.E. Whitfield. Colorado Twin Registry is funded by NIDA funded center grant DA011015, and Longitudinal Twin Study HD10333; Author Huibregtse is supported by 5T32DA01/63/-11. Danish Twin Registry is supported by the National Program for Research Infrastructure 2007 from the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation, The Research Council for Health and Disease, the Velux Foundation, and the US National Institute of Health (P01 AG08761). Netherlands Twin Register acknowledges the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) and MagW/ZonMW grants 904-61-090, 985-10-002, 912-10-020, 904-61-193,480-04-004, 463-06-001, 451-04-034, 400-05-717, Addiction-31160008, Middelgroot-911-09-032, and Spinozapremie 56-464-14192; VU University's Institute for Health and Care Research (EMGO+); and the European Research Council (ERC-230374), the Avera Institute, Sioux Falls, South Dakota (USA). Data collection and analyses in Finnish twin cohorts have been supported by ENGAGE-European Network for Genetic and Genomic Epidemiology, FP7-HEALTH-F4-2007, grant agreement number 201413, National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (grants AA-12502, AA-00145, and AA-09203) to R J Rose, the Academy of Finland Center of Excellence in Complex Disease Genetics (grant numbers: 213506, 129680), and the Academy of Finland (grants 100499, 205585, 118555, 141054, 265240, 263278 and 264146 to J Kaprio). K Silventoinen is supported by Osaka University's International Joint Research Promotion Program. Since its origin the East Flanders Prospective Survey has been partly supported by grants from the Fund of Scientific Research, Flanders and Twins, a non-profit Association for Scientific Research in Multiple Births (Belgium). Waves 1-3 of Genesis 12-19 were funded by the W T Grant Foundation, the University of London Central Research fund and a Medical Research Council Training Fellowship (G81/343) and Career Development Award (G120/635) to Thalia C. Eley. Wave 4 was supported by grants from the Economic and Social Research Council (RES-00022-2206) and the Institute of Social Psychiatry (06/07-11) to Alice M. Gregory who was also supported at that time by a Leverhulme Research Fellowship (RF/2/RFG/2008/0145). Wave 5 was supported by funding to Alice M. Gregory from Goldsmiths, University of London. Anthropometric measurements of the Hungarian twins were supported by Medexpert Ltd., Budapest, Hungary. The Murcia Twin Registry is supported by Fundacion Seneca, Regional Agency for Science and Technology, Murcia, Spain (08633/PHCS/08, 15302/PHCS/10 & 19479/PI/14) and Ministry of Science and Innovation Spain (PSI2009-11560 & PSI2014-56680-R). The University of Southern California Twin Study is funded by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (R01 MH58354).; South Korea Twin Registry is supported by National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-371-2011-1 B0004/). S.Y. Oncel and F. Aliev are supported by Kirikkale University Research Grant: KKU, 2009/43 and TUBITAK grant 114C117. Washington State Twin Registry (formerly the University of Washington Twin Registry) was supported in part by grant NIH RC2 HL103416 (D. Buchwald,PI). The West Japan Twins and Higher Order Multiple Births Registry was supported by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) (grant number 15H05105) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.