Nutrition, Lifestyle, Genes and Metabolome - A Biosocial Cohort Study of Obesity in Young Adults from Urban Peru ODA compliance: Our unique approach to identify novel obesity markers uses the Poverty Map to select urban clusters and also targets health inequalities occurring within a cohort of the population that must be safeguarded in the short term for Peru's social and poverty uplifts to be sustainable in the long term. Hence, any benefits arising from this work will be communicated to the public, health professionals and government organisations who will inform public health policy on strategies to reduce the burden of obesity. Through the understanding gained in this study, the aim will be to influence government policies that will have a positive impact on the diet of the poorest population, aiming to attenuate an obesity epidemic resulting from urbanisation, helping Peru improve in particular sustainable development goals 1, 3, 11 and 17. Summary: In Peru, the prevalence of overweight and obesity is increasing and it varies according to area of residence and socioeconomic position, with the highest prevalence reported in urban areas. Some of the reasons for higher rates of obesity in urban areas could be higher caloric intake and lower levels of physical activity. However there are various other biological and non-biological factors that are likely to contribute to the increasing prevalence of obesity in the urban population. Young Lives Study (YLS) is one of the largest population based study in low-middle-income-countries that has tracked the lives of 2,000 children in Peru over 15 years. Previous YLS studies in Peru have shown a steady increase in obesity prevalence among adolescents. However, studies investigating the progression from obesity to the development of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD) are limited in Peru and hence, we will conduct SONGS (Study of Obesity, Nutrition, Genes and Social factors), which will be an expansion of the baseline data of YLS and introduce new empirical perspectives to discover novel factors of obesity. The main aim is to understand the impact of specific factors (dietary intake, lifestyle factors such as physical activity, genetic factors, physical places of residence, food preference and metabolic biomarkers) on obesity in the Peruvian population. Also, this study will shed new light on the socioeconomic determinants of overweight and obesity and gender disparities in the development of obesity during infancy, childhood and adolescence. To date, there is no study in Peru that has a follow-up time of 19 years that has examined biological and non-biological markers of obesity-related NCDs under different geographical settings.  The first step will be to collect information on dietary intake, food choice, lifestyle, living conditions and the place of residence of 1,000 adolescents from the YLS living in urban areas of Peru. As part of the survey, we will also collect blood samples for biological analysis which includes measuring the levels of important biomarkers that are shown to be abnormal in the blood of obese individuals. In addition, we will examine the impact of genes that have been previously shown to predispose individuals to obesity in other populations, and the combined effect of genes, diet and other lifestyle factors on obesity. We will also examine the levels of metabolic biomarkers which are formed in or necessary for metabolism to see whether the levels are higher in people who are obese.  We will investigate the link between food choice and dietary intake and examine whether this link is influenced by genetic factors and physical places of residence. These analyses will help us to identify novel markers which can serve as predictive markers for adult obesity and NCDs. Throughout this project we will ensure communication across the key parts of the stakeholder spectrum including the scientific community, those involved in providing public health nutrition advice, health professionals, policymakers, industry and the public. The Newton Fund builds research and innovation partnerships with developing countries across the world to promote the economic development and social welfare of the partner countries.