It has been said that there is an obesity epidemic in America. Many different factors have been pointed at as the cause of this health problem. Is it due to large portion sizes? Perhaps it is because the cost of fast food, which is full of fat and calories, is much less expensive than the cost of fresh, healthy, fruit and vegetables. Some say that children are becoming obese because they don’t have physical education classes at their school. Could it be possible that obesity is in your genes? A new study seems to point in that direction.
There are quite a few American children who are on diets. This year, there were a number of parents who didn’t let their child go trick-or-treating on Halloween, not because of the parent’s religious beliefs, or because of concerns about safety. The big reason was that the parents were worried that their child, who was on a diet, would end up eating too much Halloween candy. There are a lot of adults who are constantly on diets, fighting their own, personal, battle with obesity. Often, we see entire families who are overweight. People have speculated that the reason why people are obese is because of their genetic makeup.
A study done by scientists at the University of Oxford has found a connection with a gene that is being referred to as FTO and increased body weight. The FTO gene is associated with fat mass and obesity. A study in 2007 discovered a genetic variant in the FTO gene. People who had this variant were at a higher risk of becoming obese. People who had two copies of it were, on average, heavier than people who did not have this gene variant.
The new study involved mice who were bred by scientists to ensure that each mouse had extra copies of the FTO gene. These mice ate more, and became fatter, than the mice in the control group, who did not have the extra copies of the FTO gene. The research seems to say that there is a genetic link to explain why some people are obese. If so, there is potential that in the future, there will be drugs developed that specifically target the FTO gene, and turn it off. This is interesting news, especially if obesity runs in your family.
Image by Tony Alter on Flickr