Genome-wide mapping of common and rare variant effects on adiposity across childhood.

624 common genetic variants influence childhood adiposity, with one-third showing no association with adult BMI, highlighting childhood-specific genetic effects.

• Why it matters: Understanding childhood obesity's genetic basis is crucial because it differs from adult obesity, yet most studies focus on adults, leaving a knowledge gap about early-life genetic influences.
• What they did: The study performed age-stratified genome-wide association analyses on over 62,000 measured and nearly 600,000 recalled childhood traits, identifying variants linked to key pathways and cell populations.
• The result: Findings reveal childhood-specific neurocircuits and rare variants in genes like ADCY3 and MC4R that have stronger effects during childhood, emphasizing childhood as a critical window for studying energy regulation pathways.