Dietary fatty acid distribution modifies obesity risk linked to the rs9939609 polymorphism of the fat mass and obesity-associated gene in a Spanish case-control study of children

Abstract

The rs9939609 polymorphism of the FTO gene has been widely associated with childhood obesity in several European cohorts. This association appears to be depending on dietary macronutrients. Therefore, our aim was to evaluate whether dietary fatty acid distribution intake could interact with this FTO genetic variation and obesity in a Spanish children and adolescents case-control study. 354 Spanish children and adolescents aged 6-18 (49% males) were genotyped for the rs9939609 variant of the FTO gene. Anthropometric parameters were taken and energy intake was measured. We observed an interaction between the percentage of saturated fatty acids (SFA) of diet over total energy intake as well as polyunsaturated/saturated (PUFA/SFA) fatty acid ratio and the association of the polymorphism with obesity risk. In our population the risk allele carriers consuming more than 12.6% SFA of their total energy value had an increased obesity risk compared with TT carriers. In the same way, A allele carriers that intake less than 0.43 PUFA/SFA ratio presented higher obesity risk than non A allele carriers. In summary, this study reports for the first time, the influence of dietary fatty acid distribution on the effect of the rs9939609 polymorphism of the FTO gene on obesity risk.