Genetic Screen At Birth Can Reveal Risk of Becoming Obese

Causes of obesity: genetics, lifestyle, and environment. 

Genetic predispositions are least powerful in children but, if they fall into the genetic predisposition, lifestyle will certainly exascerbate it. 

Adults with high risk scores weighed +30lbs on average

Specs: 119,951 middle-aged adults, 2.1 million genetic varients used

Researchers scored genetic risk in five different ways.  Each of these tests was weighted based on statistical significance to obesity and correlation "to nearby variants" (clarify- genetic variatants or one of the 5 tests?).

Tested the 5 scors on 119k from UK, and chose the test that correlated with BMI most closely, to continue working with.

Second cohort: 288,016 middle-aged adults

In newborns, there is little difference in weight of those with high polygenic score from those with low score, but as they got older the weight difference grew.

Third cohort: 3,722 young participants.  None obese at the start.  Of those with genetic predisposition, 15.6% became severly obese.  Of the participants low polygenic score, only 1.3% became severly obese.

Goal: Use this test early so that parents can stear lifestyle choices accordingly.