Early childhood height, weight, and BMI development in children with monogenic obesity: a European multicentre, retrospective, observational study
Publication: The Lancet – Child & Adolescent Health
Stefanie Zorn, Cornelis Jan de Groot, Stephanie Brandt-Heunemann, Julia von Schnurbein, Ozair Abawi, Rebecca Bounds, Lisa Ruck, Blanca Guijo, Gabriel Á Martos-Moreno, Clarisse Nicaise, Sophie Courbage, Margit Klehr-Martinelli, Prof Reiner Siebert, Prof Béatrice Dubern, Prof Christine Poitou, Prof Karine Clément, Prof Jesús Argente, Prof Peter Kühnen, Prof Ismaa Sadaf Farooqi, Prof Erica van den Akker
17 April 2025
Monogenic defects in the leptin-melanocortin pathway are associated with hyperphagia and severe, early-onset obesity. Early childhood growth patterns in height, weight, and BMI, might serve as phenotypic markers for specific genetic disorders; however, reliable data are scarce. This study aimed to evaluate the natural history of height, weight, and BMI in early childhood in a large European group of individuals with monogenic obesity.
This study identified characteristic early childhood BMI trajectories for different forms of monogenic obesity. From age 6 months onwards, individuals with biallelic variants can be distinguished from those with monoallelic variants and common obesity. A BMI ≥24 kg/m2 at age 2 years had good diagnostic performance for biallelic variants, informing future recommendations for genetic screening for monogenic obesity.
