Given that youth with obesity typically exhibit lower HRQoL and longitudinal studies show diminished HRQOL is more likely a consequence of obesity rather than a determinant, future research is needed to verify our initial findings and determine whether carriers of this BDNF genotype are genetically predisposed to developing a diminished HRQoL, as well as elucidate the mechanisms that may underlie these relationships. Here, BDNF is linked to obesity due to melanocortin 4 receptor deficiency.