The Role of the Genetic Background Involved in Weight Regain Through Mechanisms Including Energy Expenditure, Physical Activity and Adipogenic Capacity

The risk for weight regain after weight loss is a major problem for the current obesity treatments, and is largely genetically determined. It is believed that an elucidation of the genetic component in the prognosis of weight management could assist in the development of more effective and individually tailored treatments. However, current research on the genetic component of weight management, and in particular weight regain, is still limited and data available are sometimes inconsistent. The current research proposal aims to identify groups with a high, low or medium predisposition for weight regain, based on a genetic profile and to demonstrate differences in the response of these subjects to a weight maintenance period after weight reduction in terms of body composition, physical activity, adipogenic capacity and energy expenditure.