New gene locations linked to obesity have been pinpointed in a large study by
an international team of researchers.
The team examined data from more than 260 000 people and identified seven new
gene locations tied to overweight and obesity, and four new gene locations
associated with height.
In addition, most of the gene locations previously linked to various body
measurements were confirmed in the study published online in the journal
The study authors said they also showed that the genetic mechanisms that
cause extreme obesity are similar to those that cause milder forms of overweight
"We know from experience that genetic factors are important for the emergence
of both milder and more extreme forms of obesity, but how much overlap there is
between genes that are involved in extreme obesity and normal or slightly
elevated BMI [a measure of body fat] has not been examined systematically
previously," study coordinator Erik Ingelsson, a professor at Uppsala University
in Sweden, said in a university news release.
He added that the results "suggest that extremely obese individuals have a
greater number of gene variants that increase the risk of obesity, rather than
completely different genes being involved. In the long term, our findings may
lead to new ways of preventing and treating obesity, which is one of the
greatest global public health problems of our age."
The US National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has more about overweight
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