Are There Any Effective Behavior Change Strategies for Communicating Genetic Risk in Obesity Prevention and Body...

Area of Science:

• Genetics
• Behavioral Science
• Public Health

Background:

• Inconsistent findings exist in genetic risk communication studies for obesity.
• Understanding intervention components is crucial for effective genetic risk communication.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review genetic risk communication interventions for obesity-related outcomes.
• To identify effective intervention components for improving weight, nutrition, and exercise behaviors.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review of 23 randomized controlled trials (18 intervention trials).
• Searches across eight databases, assessed risk of bias using Risk of Bias 2 tool.
• Narrative synthesis to cluster studies by intervention and control group content.

Main Results:

• Genetic risk communication alone or with phenotype-based risk was ineffective for low-risk individuals.
• Personalized behavioral counseling improved effectiveness, especially in high-genetic risk subgroups.
• Complex interventions with multiple behavior change techniques showed the most promise.

Conclusions:

• Genetic risk communication is most effective when integrated into complex, personalized behavioral counseling.
• Behavior change techniques like problem-solving and self-monitoring are key.
• Future interventions should focus on personalized, multi-component approaches for obesity management.