ABSTRACT
In this volume, three chapters are devoted to the current status of our knowledge regarding the role of genetic variation and epigenetic mechanisms in the predisposition to obesity (Chapters 8 through 10), and in the second volume of the Handbook of Obesity, Chapter 8 focuses on single-gene disorders causing obesity. In this chapter, we briey review some of the basic genetic epidemiological methods and then summarize the evidence accumulated on phenotypes of obesity.
