Scientists have found that a gene which is linked to the risk of obesity does not influence the success of weight loss efforts.
Genes play an important role in the development of obesity, say researchers led by Professor John Mathers of Newcastle University, UK. The FTO gene is one of those most closely linked to obesity.
The team set out to assess the effect of an individual’s FTO genotype on weight loss after making dietary, physical activity, or drug based changes as part of a study. They analysed the findings of eight reliable randomised controlled trials.
This showed that changes in body mass index, body weight, and waist circumference "were not significantly different between FTO genotypes". Detailed analyses suggested that this was not influenced by the type or length of intervention, ethnicity, sex, original body mass index, or age.
"We have observed that carriage of the FTO minor allele was not associated with differential change in adiposity after weight loss interventions," they conclude in today’s (21 September) BMJ.
They add that: "Genetic predisposition to obesity associated with the FTO minor allele can be at least partly counteracted through such interventions."
Writing in an editorial, Dr Alison Tedstone, chief nutritionist at Public Health England, states that the study "adds to the evidence suggesting that environmental factors might dominate over at least common obesity linked genes".
She writes: "It is increasingly evident that the idea that personalised interventions based on the genome may not pay off, at least in the short term. Given that obesity and poor diet are leading causes of morbidity in Britain, a rebalancing of research towards whole systems approaches including environmental drivers may be of greater benefit to the population in the long term. The solutions to the obesity crisis must be societal, as well as individual."
Livingstone, K. M. et al. FTO genotype and weight loss: systematic review and meta-analysis of 9563 individual participant data from eight randomised controlled trials. BMJ 21 September 2016 doi: 10.1136/bmj.i4707 [abstract]
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