Overview

• The score was developed by an international team using genetic data from more than five million individuals, including contributions from the GIANT Consortium and 23andMe.
• Tests on over 500,000 participants showed it explains about 17.6% of BMI variation in European ancestry groups, twice the efficacy of earlier predictors.
• Children with higher genetic risk experienced greater initial weight loss during intensive lifestyle interventions but faced faster weight regain afterward.
• Predictive accuracy fell sharply in non-European groups, capturing about 16% of risk in East Asian Americans and just 2.2% in Ugandan cohorts.
• Researchers warn that expanding representation in genetic datasets is essential before the tool can be adopted for clinical early-life obesity prevention.