Do Gene Variants Influencing Adult Adiposity Affect Birth Weight? A Population-Based Study of 24 Loci in 4,744 Danish Individuals

Several obesity risk alleles affecting adult adiposity have been identified by the recent wave of genome wide association studies. We aimed to examine the potential effect of these variants on fetal body composition by investigating the variants in relation to birth weight and ponderal index of the newborn. percentile) and high birth weight (≥90th percentile) to allow for non-linear associations. There was no difference in the number of risk alleles between the groups (p = 0.57). No interactions between each risk allele and birth weight in the prediction of adult BMI were observed. An obesity risk score was created by summing up risk alleles. The risk score did not associate with fetal body composition. Moreover there was no interaction between the risk score and birth weight/ponderal index in the prediction of adult BMI.24 common variants associated with adult adiposity did not affect or interact with birth weight among Danes suggesting that the effects of these variants predominantly arise in the post-natal life