ArticleBMJ nutrition, prevention & health2020
Genetic risk of obesity as a modifier of associations between neighbourhood environment and body mass index: an observational study of 335 046 UK Biobank participants.
Article in BMJ nutrition, prevention & health, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 28 citations in OpenAlex.
- Socioeconomic position, genetic susceptibility, and epigenetic profiles in obesity across the life course: a systematic review.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2026Pooled it
- Genetic risk for high body mass index before and amidst the obesity epidemic: Cross-cohort analysis of four british birth cohort studies.PLoS genetics · 2026Article
- Gene-Environment Interplay Between Residential Walkability and BMI: A Finnish Twin Study.Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) · 2026Article
- The UK Food Environment: A Systematic Review of Domains, Methodologies, and Outcomes.Current developments in nutrition · 2025Review
- Article
- Interplay between genetic risk and built neighborhood conditions as predictor of BMI across the transition into adulthood.Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) · 2025Article
- Understanding nutrition research for better patient care.BMJ nutrition, prevention & health · 2025Article
- Exploring Molecular Genetics Research on Obesity in Malaysia: Protocol for a Scoping Review.JMIR research protocols · 2024Article
- Review
- Article
- Ready-to-Eat Food Environments and Risk of Incident Heart Failure: A Prospective Cohort Study.Circulation. Heart failure · 2024Article
- Protective Association of APOC1/rs4420638 with Risk of Obesity: A case-control Study in Portuguese Children.Biochemical genetics · 2024Article
- Investigating effect modification between childhood maltreatment and genetic risk for cardiovascular disease in the UK Biobank.PloS one · 2023Article
- Genetic variation in satiety signaling and hypothalamic inflammation: merging fields for the study of obesity.The Journal of nutritional biochemistry · 2022Review
- A foresight whole systems obesity classification for the English UK biobank cohort.BMC public health · 2022Article
- Precision Medicine and Obesity.Handbook of experimental pharmacology · 2022Review
- Diet Quality and Food Prices Modify Associations between Genetic Susceptibility to Obesity and Adiposity Outcomes.Nutrients · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThere is growing recognition that recent global increases in obesity are the product of a complex interplay between genetic and environmental factors. However, in gene-environment studies of obesity, 'environment' usually refers to individual behavioural factors that influence energy balance, whereas more upstream environmental factors are overlooked. We examined gene-environment interactions between genetic risk of obesity and two neighbourhood characteristics likely to be associated with obesity (proximity to takeaway/fast-food outlets and availability of physical activity facilities).
methodsWe used data from 335 046 adults aged 40-70 in the UK Biobank cohort to conduct a population-based cross-sectional study of interactions between neighbourhood characteristics and genetic risk of obesity, in relation to body mass index (BMI). Proximity to a fast-food outlet was defined as distance from home address to nearest takeaway/fast-food outlet, and availability of physical activity facilities as the number of formal physical activity facilities within 1 km of home address. Genetic risk of obesity was operationalised by weighted Genetic Risk Scores of 91 or 69 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP), and by six individual SNPs considered separately. Multivariable, mixed-effects models with product terms for the gene-environment interactions were estimated.
resultsAfter accounting for likely confounding, the association between proximity to takeaway/fast-food outlets and BMI was stronger among those at increased genetic risk of obesity, with evidence of an interaction with polygenic risk scores (p=0.018 and p=0.028 for 69-SNP and 91-SNP scores, respectively) and in particular with a SNP linked to
conclusionsIndividuals at an increased genetic risk of obesity may be more sensitive to exposure to the local fast-food environment. Ensuring that neighbourhood residential environments are designed to promote a healthy weight may be particularly important for those with greater genetic susceptibility to obesity.
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