A Common Variant in the FTO Gene Is Associated with Body Mass Index and Predisposes to Childhood and Adult Obesity
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Discussion
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Implication
Genome-wide association study reveals an FTO gene variant increases obesity risk across children and adults, indicating a direct genetic contribution to fat mass accumulation.
Key Points
- Identify genetic variants predisposing individuals to type 2 diabetes and evaluate their association with body mass index and obesity risk.
- Conducted a genome-wide search for type 2 diabetes-susceptibility genes.
- Replicated the additive association of the identified FTO gene variant with body mass index across 13 cohorts comprising 38,759 participants.
- Homozygous carriers of the risk allele (16% of adults) weighed approximately 3 kilograms more and had a 1.67-fold increased odds of obesity compared to non-carriers.
- The association with elevated body mass index emerged from age 7 years upward and specifically reflected an increase in fat mass.
Cite This Study
Frayling et al. (2007) studied this question.