Exploring Dietary Intake in Adults with Severe Obesity and Associations with the FTO rs9939609 Genotypes

Ann Kristin H de Soysa; Catia Martins; Mette Langaas; Valdemar Grill; Ingrid Løvold Mostad

doi:10.1016/j.cdnut.2023.100032

Exploring Dietary Intake in Adults with Severe Obesity and Associations with the FTO rs9939609 Genotypes

Curr Dev Nutr. 2023 Jan 30;7(2):100032. doi: 10.1016/j.cdnut.2023.100032. eCollection 2023 Feb.

Authors

Ann Kristin H de Soysa^{1

2}, Catia Martins^{2

3

4}, Mette Langaas⁵, Valdemar Grill², Ingrid Løvold Mostad^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical Nutrition and Speech-Language Therapy, Clinic of Clinical Services, St. Olavs hospital - Trondheim University Hospital, Trondheim, Norway.
² Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.
³ Center for Obesity Research and Innovation (ObeCe), Clinic of Surgery, St. Olavs Hospital-Trondheim University Hospital, Trondheim, Norway.
⁴ Department of Nutrition Sciences, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.
⁵ Department of Mathematical Sciences, Faculty of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.

Abstract

Background: Few have studied the associations between rs9939609 genotypes in the obesity candidate locus FTO and energy and nutrient intakes and meal frequencies in adults with severe obesity. We are unaware of studies that have assessed adherence to key dietary recommendations in this population, at least in Norway. Increased knowledge of genotype associations with dietary factors could improve personalized obesity therapy.

Objectives: The present study aimed to explore how the rs9939609 genotypes associate with dietary variables and adherence to key dietary recommendations in a sample of adults with severe obesity.

Methods: A cross-sectional observation study designed to have similar numbers of participants with genotypes TT, AT, and AA included 100 patients (70% women) with median (25^th, 75^th percentile) age 42 (32, 50) y and BMI 42.8 (39.5, 46.4) kg/m². We assessed intakes of food groups, energy, and macro- and micronutrients from three 24-h dietary recalls and meal frequencies. Genotype associations were analyzed using regression analyses. Reported intakes were evaluated against national diet recommendations.

Results: Using a significance level of 0.01, we found no genotype associations with energy intake, energy density, adherence to recommendations, or meal frequency but tendencies of associations with energy adjusted protein intake (AA > AT, P = 0.037; AT > TT, P = 0.064), food groups milk and cream (AT > TT, P = 0.029), and Mixed dishes (AA > TT, P = 0.039). Few participants complied with recommendations for intakes of whole grains (21%), fruits and vegetables (11%), and fish (37%); however, 67% followed the recommendation to limit added sugar. Less than 20% had recommended intakes of vitamin D and folate.

Conclusions: In our patients with severe obesity, we found tendencies of associations between the FTO rs9939609 genotypes and diet but no significant associations at the 0.01 level and below. Few met key food-based diet recommendations, suggesting that the food habits in this population pose an increased risk of nutrient deficiencies. Curr Dev Nutr 2023;xx:xx.

Keywords: adherence to dietary guidelines; energy intake; food group intake; nutrient intake; obesity; rs9939609.