Abstract In recent decades, the prevalence of childhood obesity has increased at a alarming rate. The health hazards of childhood obesity are substantial, which has become an important public health problem. Lifestyle intervention is an effective means to prevent childhood obesity. However, individuals varied in their response to the intervention program, which may be associated with genetic factors. This paper systematically reviews the research progress of the effects of FTO, MC4R and other genetic variants on childhood obesity interventions, summarizes the limitations of current research and sheds light on the future research, so as to provide scientific evidence for individualized childhood obesity interventions based on genetic backgrounds.