Could your BMI be explained by your genes?

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2024-06-29 01:00

International

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Your BMI could be partially explained by your genes, according to international researchers. The team looked at data from more than 1.3 million people in Israel between 1986 and 2018, and found that those born to parents who lived with obesity at age 17 had a 77% probability of having obesity at the same age, compared with 15% when both parents were in the weight range considered ‘healthy’. While this kind of study can’t show cause and effect, the researchers say the results highlight parental factors may influence the health outcomes of the next generation.

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Journal/
conference: JAMA Network Open

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Tel-Aviv University, Israel

Funder: No funding information provided. Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Dr Baker reported receiving personal fees from Novo Nordisk A/S Denmark outside the submitted work and serving as a member of the executive committee for the European Association for the Study of Obesity. No other disclosures were reported.

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