ABSTRACT
Scientifically, the assumption that anorexia is inherited discourages research on environmental, including family influences. Wang et al noted that research on neuropsychiatric disorders had found evidence that variations in genes could have important causal effects, but that another kind of variation in DNA, Copy Number Variations (CNVs), could also have an important influence. The Maudsley Model denied the role of the family in the aetiology of the disturbance at much the same time that the case for genetic causation of anorexia was being argued most strongly. The debate about the aetiology of anorexia is part of a much larger debate about the relative impact of genes and environment on the development of behaviour. The approach to twin studies is to identify twins receiving treatment for anorexia in clinical settings, and to assess their co-twin for anorexia. A number of genetic influences in the development of anorexia have sometimes been demonstrated, but each is very small.
