Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8949-0090

Date of Award

Winter 2026

Document Type

Thesis (Ph.D.)

Department or Program

Quantitative Biomedical Sciences

First Advisor

Diane Gilbert-Diamond

Abstract

Over 40% of US adults and 20% of children live with obesity. It is related to increased risks of diseases including type II diabetes and cancer, is a source of harmful stigma, and impairs child development. Appetitive traits describing patterns of food approach and avoidance behaviors may serve as windows into the underlying pathophysiology of obesity. As both obesity and appetitive traits are heritable, common genetic drivers of obesity may lead to phenotypic obesity through appetitive traits as a disease mechanism. Additionally, GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) have been shown to exert their profound clinical effects in part by modulating appetite. However, the role of variation in the GLP-1 related signaling pathway as a driver of appetitive characteristics outside of therapeutic intervention is less known. This thesis details three projects related to genomic obesity risks, appetite regulation, and their roles for obesity in preadolescents. In the first, we evaluated the association of obesity polygenic risk scores (PRSs) with appetitive traits. In the second, we used a quantitative multifactor dimensionality reduction method (QMDR) to assess interactions among variants from genes involved in GLP-1 signaling and their relationship to appetitive traits. In the third, we used a data-driven approach to derive simplified composite summary scores from the Child Eating Behavior Questionnaire (CEBQ) to efficiently quantify obesogenic eating risk in clinical and research settings. These projects collectively contribute to our understanding of the genetic mechanisms underlying appetite regulation and obesity and contribute to clinical tools to enhance their future study.

Original Citation

Renier, TJ., Yeum, D., Emond, J. A., Lansigan, RK., Ballarino, GA., Carlson, DD., Loos, R. J. F., & Gilbert-Diamond, D. (2024). Elucidating pathways to pediatric obesity: a study evaluating obesity polygenic risk scores related to appetitive traits in children. International journal of obesity, 48(1), 71–77. doi: doi.org/10.1038/s41366-023-01385-3

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