FTO rs9939609:T>A variant and physical inactivity as important risk factors for morbid obesity: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Abstract Background The prevalence of obesity has been increasing worldwide. It has been reported that physiological, environmental factors such as: diet, culture, physical activity, and genetics, are the principal factors related with obesity. The FTO rs9939609:T > A variant has been associated with obesity. The A variant has been correlated with anthropometric and metabolic alterations. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyze the association of the FTO rs9939609: T > A variant and environmental factors with clinical, anthropometric, and biochemical variables in subjects with morbid obesity.Results The A variant frequency was higher in morbid obesity group compared with normal weight group (44% vs 25%, p < 0.001). Subjects with the AA genotype had higher BMI than those with the AT genotype (35.46 kg/m2 (31-39.8) vs 26.91 kg/m2 (23.7–30), p = 0.005). Women with the AA genotype showed higher waist circumference than the AT group (101.07cm (90.9-111.1) vs 85.45cm (77-93.8) p = 0.047). The FTO A variant increases the risk 3.54 times, and the physical inactivity 6.37 times for morbid obesity.Conclusions Our results suggest that among the studied variables, the most associated with morbid obesity were the FTO risk genotype (A allele) and physical inactivity. Therefore, it is important to promote physical activity as a lifestyle, mainly in subjects with risk genotype.