Indians with a genetic risk of obesity may benefit more from lifestyle changes or specialized nutrient supplements, according to a study.

According to the results of a study conducted by researchers at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR-CCMB), Hyderabad, many gene variants that were previously linked to obesity in Europeans do not affect Indians similarly, which corresponds with a different pattern of obesity in Indians.

Additionally, the study found that individuals with European-like ancestry have a higher Polygenic Risk Score (PSR) for obesity than persons with other ancestries, such as Indians (South Asians).

The genomes of the Indian population were characterized by CSIR-CCMB researchers under the direction of Dr. Giriraj Ratan Chandak. They comprised both diabetics and those with normal blood glucose levels, and since they have been monitored for almost 20 years, they offer a rare chance to look into the genetic causes of obesity in Indians.

Given the prevalence of conditions like diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular ailments in India and other South Asian countries, obesity is a serious issue. Indians tend to have higher core (abdominal) obesity, which is a markedly different pattern from that of Europeans.

The PRS for Indians was developed using a number of genetic alterations linked to obesity, thereby establishing a “virtual individual” to simulate the risk of obesity. The South Asian population in the study has been represented by the data from Indian samples. The study’s conclusions are made more applicable to the Indian and South Asian populations thanks to this data.

The researchers also looked at the relationship between a person’s genetic susceptibility to obesity and the effects of lifestyle weight control strategies like exercise and food. In addition to responding better to therapies, they found that people with a higher genetic risk of obesity gained weight more quickly once the interventions were done.

The findings of this study are consistent with previous findings on height, which showed that environmental changes to genes have a greater effect and that genetic variations found in Europeans indicated lesser risk in Indians. It appears that nutrition, diet, and lifestyle may be just as significant—if not more so—in predicting obesity in Indians. In light of genetic risk, lifestyle modifications or dietary supplements may therefore be more effective for Indians, according to Dr. Chandak.

Dr. Chandak’s earlier research revealed that Indians and Europeans had quite different genetic bases for non-communicable diseases.

The most recent study conducted by CSIR-CCMB researchers is a component of an international study. An worldwide team of 600 researchers spanning 500 universities drew on the largest and most diverse genetic dataset ever, including genetic data from the GIANT consortium and consumer DNA testing startup 23andMe. This made the genetic data of more than 5 million individuals from various nations, including India, accessible.

The researchers used this information to create PRS, a genetic test that predicts adult obesity in early childhood. This finding may make it easier to identify kids and teenagers who are already genetically predisposed to obesity so that they can get targeted prevention measures, like lifestyle changes, earlier in life. This score predicts a person’s risk of becoming obese twice as well as the previous best test.

The score’s capacity to forecast a child’s likelihood of becoming obese as an adult, around the age of five, long before other risk factors begin to influence their weight later in life, is what gives it such potency.

Assistant Professor Roelof Smit, the principal author of the study that was published in the journal Nature Medicine, and a member of the University of Copenhagen’s NNF Centre for Basic Metabolic Research (CBMR), adds that getting involved now can have a significant influence.