The VIVA LA FAMILIA study design and methodology have been described in detail elsewhere4. GWAS was performed on 815 children from 263 Hispanic families. The number of families by sibships was: 8 (one child), 40 (two children), 155 (three children), 48 (four children), 6 (five children), 3 (six children), 2 (seven children) and 1 (eight children). Each family was ascertained on an obese proband, defined as a BMI>95th percentile, between the ages 4–19 y. Once identified, the obese proband and all siblings, 4 to 19 y of age, and their parents were invited to the Children’s Nutrition Research Center for a tour and full explanation of the study prior to consenting. The cross-sectional, longitudinal study design consisted of baseline measurements, with a one-year follow-up to track children’s growth and body compositional changes. In-depth baseline phenotyping included vital signs, anthropometry and body composition, diet and physical fitness, 24-h calorimetry, eating behavior, physical activity, fasting blood sampling for DNA and other biochemistries.
