Variants in the FTO gene are associated with common obesity in the Belgian population.

Three independent studies, of which two genome-wide scans, have reported an association between SNPs in the FTO (Fat mass and obesity associated) gene and obesity, in different European cohorts. We selected the SNPs with the strongest evidence for association from the first two studies and genotyped 1099 obese patients and 268 healthy control individuals. Both SNPs were significantly associated with obesity, enabling us to replicate earlier findings from Caucasian cohorts in a Belgian population sample.