Genes Involved in Obesity
At the International Congress on Obesity in Sydney, Dr Sadaf Farooqi of the University of Cambridge presented data that suggested at least seven genes were involved in obesity with six per cent of all cases of severe early-onset obesity due to genes. Genes may determine 40 to 70 per cent of a person’s weight causing a slower metabolism and greater appetite. Those with these obesity genes may be bigger, taller, stronger, and big-boned.
Hey, that’s me! Dr. Farooqi is my new best friend. She says that I shouldn’t be made to feel guilty about my eating habits because I might not eat as much as thinner people (my sister *cough*) but still be more likely to gain weight.
On the other hand, Emma Whitelaw from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research isn’t going to be my friend. She won’t let me use genes as an excuse.
While you say blame is a bad thing, I can think of no other way, short of making food less available, to resolve this huge problem in society.
They’re going to be sick, they’re going to die young, and we can’t wait for gene therapy to solve their problems.
Geez. If you put it that way, it doesn’t sound good at all.
The Daily Telegraph, September 4, 2006
Technorati Tags: obesity, overweight, weight gain, obese, genetics, genes, dna, disease, illness, health
I just want to say a couple of things,
1 You are not obese or anything vaguely approaching it
2 There isn’t anything like the problem with obesity that the media would have us believe. If I look around me I can think of only two people I would actually class as obese, most of us are just insecure because we don’t look like Kate Moss!
(Go on, tell me it’s worse in the US…but I’m not convinced it’s quite the epidemic we are being told…)
Snowy: You’re so sweet.
I know I’m not approaching obese but that BMI isn’t looking too good either.
I see large people wherever I go so overweight/obesity should be a concern in any country. As for epidemic? Not sure it’s as serious as all that but there’s definitely be an increase in overall weight that correlates with our lifestyle.