GENETIC MODELS OF HUMAN OBESITY - FAMILY STUDIES

Childhood obesity is predictive of obesity as an adult, and individual differences in body weight relative to height (body mass index) in ad ults are important predictors of morbidity as well as mortality from a therosclerotic cardiovascular disease. The observation of strong famil ial correlations does not ensure that genes are involved in the determ ination of body mass index, because individuals in families share envi ronments as well as genes. However, several recent studies have found evidence for both additive (polygene) and nonadditive (major gene) com ponents. A question that results from these analyses is - what gene(s) has been inherited that carries an associated risk, most likely media ted by environmental exposures, for obesity? Studies to identify genet ic loci linked to familial obesity should add to our understanding of the genetic factors involved in the determination of obesity and may l ead to early identification of individuals and families at high risk f or the chronic disorders that are associated with obesity.