Obesity: Nutrition and Genetics—A Short Narrative Review

Abstract

Obesity has become a major global health challenge and it is a risk factor for the development of several comorbid conditions. Additionally, obesity has considerable economic consequences. Obesity is a multifactorial condition that arises from independent influences of genetic and social-environmental factors on food intake and physical activity. It has been difficult to establish clear associations between weight status and the intake of single foods or food groups. In most people, the predisposition to obesity has a polygenic basis, which means that obesity will develop if an individual has several polygenic variants that increase body weight. The FTO gene was the first GWAS-identified obesity-susceptibility gene and since then other polygenic variants that are associated with BMI and dietary intake have also been identified. However, this is still an active area of research as more polygenetic variants await discovery.