Obesity in the Balinese is associated with FTO rs9939609 and rs1421085 single nucleotide polymorphisms.

Obesity prevalence is increasing worldwide, including in the Bali Province, Indonesia, a popular tourism destination area. The common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) rs9939609 and rs1421085 of the fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO) gene have been repeatedly reported as one of the important obesity genetic risk factors. We have examined the associations of FTO rs9939609 and rs1421085 SNPs with obesity in the 612 unrelated Balinese subjects living in urban and rural areas. Linear and logistic regression analyses with adjustment for age and gender were employed to investigate the association between FTO genotypes, haplotypes and obesity parameters. We found that the FTO SNPs genotypes increased BMI by 1.25 kg/m2 (p = 0.012) for rs9939609 AA and 1.12 kg/m2 (p = 0.022) for rs1421085 CC, particularly in females and in rural population. Subjects carrying these genotypes also showed a tendency to maintain high BMI, regardless of their age. Our result showed that the FTO rs9939609 and rs1421085 risk alleles were associated with increased BMI and obesity in the Balinese.