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A genetic test could predict whether a child will be obese as an adult.
A global study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, found that the risk of severe obesity in adulthood can be identified in early childhood through a polygenic risk score (PGS).
The PGS acts as a “calculator” that combines the impact of different genetic risk variants that a person can carry, according to researchers.
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The test can be performed on children before their weight begins to shift, as early as age 5, according to a press release from the University of Copenhagen’s Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research (CBMR).
The researchers suggest that this may support early prevention strategies for obesity, like lifestyle interventions at a younger age.
“Overall, these data show that PGSs have the potential to improve obesity prediction, particularly when implemented early in life,” the researchers concluded in the study.
Lead study author Roelof Smit, assistant professor at the NNF Center, wrote in a press release statement that the score is “so powerful” due to its ability to predict adult obesity “well before other risk factors start to shape their weight later in childhood.”
“Intervening at this point can have a huge impact,” he commented.
The major study was an international collaboration of human genetics researchers, consisting of more than 600 scientists from 500 global institutions, as well as the consumer genetics and research company 23andMe, Inc.
After gathering genetic data from more than five million people, the scientists created what’s described as the largest and most diverse genetic dataset in reported history, using that to create the PGS.
The results showed that the PGS was twice as effective as the previous best test in predicting obesity risk, accounting for approximately 17.6% of a child’s risk of developing a high BMI (body mass index) as an adult.
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“This new polygenic score is a dramatic improvement in predictive power and a leap forward in the genetic prediction of obesity risk, which brings us much closer to clinically useful genetic testing,” study co-author Ruth Loos, a professor from CBMR at the University of Copenhagen, said in a statement.
The scientists also discovered that those with a higher genetic risk of obesity were more responsive to lifestyle weight-loss interventions.
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These individuals also gained weight back more quickly once the interventions ended.
The researchers noted that the new PGS has its limitations, as it was “far better at predicting obesity” in those who have a European-like ancestry than in those with African ancestry.
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