Burning The Scale

An Obesity Gene?

by Claire on August 22nd, 2007

The Weight Loss Report in the September issue of Women’s Health (available on newsstands now) had a few tidbits that caught my attention. One was about researchers discovering an obesity gene. It’s called FTO, and those who have it are 70 percent more likely to be obese.
But…here’s what I didn’t get. It says that those with one copy of the gene will weigh 3 pounds more than those without it, on average. The 16 percent of people with 2 copies (the most you can have) will weigh around 6.6 pounds more.
That’s slightly unlucky, sure. But how could that propel you into obesity? Given that the BMI ranges are pretty broad, you could weigh 3-6 pounds more and still be healthy.
In other news, researchers think they may have found an obesity “virus.” I don’t buy it. Enough with the various vaccines and such. The answer to obesity doesn’t lie in preventing a virus, it lies in a healthy diet, exercise, and taking care of any major health problems that may be hurting your chances to lose (hypothyroidism, etc). That said, there will always be some people who have a harder time losing weight than others.
That’s my 2 cents!

Claire

(Image from harvard.edu)

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