Everyone has heard about the obesity gene. The old hotness was the FTO gene. Now the new hotness, thanks to a collaboration between 77 institutions from the UK, USA, France, Germany, Italy, Finland and Sweden, has discovered the MC4R gene.
New DNA Variants Found That Can Help To Pile On The Pounds
According to this article,
The variants map close to a gene called MC4R: mutations in this gene are the most common genetic cause of severe familial obesity.
So, how much weight on average does this gene “pack” on you? Oh…about 3.3 pounds , but when combined with the “old” obesity gene we are talking a whopping 8.5 pounds. Oh my! I never realized that the folks in the electric carts at Wal-Mart were only 8.5 lbs overweight!
Fat Acceptance tells us that picking two skinny parents is the secret to being thin. Nice try, but the nitty gritty details of fat gene data, just don’t bear this out. When examined closely genetics aren’t the scapegoat that Size Acceptance advocates would like them to be. We inherit a lot more than genetics from our parents, like eating habits, cooking styles and sedentary lifestyles.
The obesity epidemic is real. Kate Harding likes to type “booga booga” after the phrase, she may think this is cute, but it doesn’t make the massive number of people afflicted with diabetes go away.
Obesity has skyrocketed in the last 25 years. The genetics of a population don’t change in that short of a time frame. Examine this time lapse map and you can not possibly conclude that people’s inherited metabolisms are causing this.
CNN’s Time Lapse US Obesity Map
It is high time that people starting hearing the truth about just how little net effect genetics play in the role of obesity. We can’t let the “Health at Any Size” crowd preach their genetic defeatism message without some factual challenges. That is exactly what I am going to do, right here on this blog!
Another great article, deflating the Fat Gene Myth has been republished over at www.myfatspouse.com with permission from Micheal Fumento.
Great post! When I first found out how little difference genetics makes in the overall grand scheme I was shocked. Clearly lifestyle plays a large role.
Our genes have changed very little over the past 200,000 years. What has changed is the increased availability of cheap, high-calorie food and labor saving devices which make it easier for people to consume more calories while burning less. While a person’s genes may make it easier for them to gain fat, it is the choices they make and their behavior – overeating and lack of activity and exercise – that causes the fat gain.
Time had a very good article a month or so back on the child obesity epidemic and what it means for the rest of society as they age.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1813984,00.html
It really is more than just genetics.