My Genes Are Making Me Fat: Fact or Fallacy?
How many times have we heard people complain of being stu
ck in overweight bodies that they hate because ‘it’s genetic’ and they don’t have a choice? I’m sure most of us would agree--too many to even count.
And then we actually start seeing reports of “studies” mapping and identifying specific genes. Oh well then, there you go. THAT’S the problem.
Or is it? Really?
Uh, no. I’ll get into why in a minute, but aside from the fact that I have zero tolerance for excuses and a general lack of personal responsibility, I hate the thought that it has potential to send a message of hopelessness. How many people who might otherwise consider trying to better their health and their bodies won’t even bother if they look around their house, see everyone else overweight and then hear “it’s genetic”? If that answer is even just one, that’s one too many. NObody is hopeless. NObody is unable to change if the desire is great enough.
Ok, now that I got that off my chest there actually is some truth to the idea that genetics may play a role--a small role.
The first obesity related gene variants were identified in 2007 on chromosome 16 and since that time a number more have been discovered on 12 other chromosomes that are associated with body mass index. These gene variants are fairly common in most people and those who carry one have a 20 to 30 percent higher risk of obesity than people who do not.
But that’s ALL they have; a higher risk. A genetic predisposition is absolutely NOT an unavoidable sentence to a lifetime of extra pounds. According to the Harvard School of Public Health there are many people actually carrying the so-called “obesity genes” who are not overweight because a healthy diet and active lifesty
le can counteract the genetic risk.
The almost frighteningly rapid rise in obesity rates are recent; the origin of these genes are NOT. Genes take literally thousands of years to evolve so our genes have NOT changed over the last few decades--when obesity rates have been rising to epidemic proportions--in populations whose environments offer an abundance of calorie-rich foods and little physical activity. Coincidence? Hell.NO. Genetics? Also a big, hell no. Further, just because everyone in a household or a family is obese, doesn’t mean it’s in their genes. Family members tend to have the same eating, lifestyle and activity habits. We live what we learn, you might say.
Obesity is the leading cause of preventable illness and death in North America and is defined as having excessively high body fat. Body fat is stored when there is an energy imbalance between calories consumed and calories expended--more calories are consumed than the body burns. That’s it. Yes, genetics can affect our body type and shape. They can affect where and how we store body fat and play a role in how easily (or not) we burn the calories we do consume making it easier for some and harder for others to stay lean; but they are not the cause. (Save your hate mail, I’m talking about the average healthy American, not cases of extreme disorders like Bardet-Biedl, Prader-Willi, etc..although even then, there is most definitely a MUCH more complex etiology it does still come down to energy expenditure)
Is that fair to those of us who are more predisposed to putting on pounds easier than those who are not? Nope. But nobody ever said life was fair and I don’t know about you, but I’m not one to back down from a challenge just because it might be harder for me than someone else. It just makes me dig my heels in even deeper!
With that said, I’ll leave you with the following quote from Harvard....
“It’s important to remember that overall, the contribution of genes to obesity risk is small, while the contribution of our toxic food and activity environment is huge.” ~ Harvard School of Public Health
...and some facts from the Center for Disease Control
Fact: Obesity rates are soaring in the U.S.
● Between 1980 and 2000, obesity rates doubled among adults.
● Similarly since 1980, overweight rates have doubled among children and tripled among adolescents – increasing the number of years they are exposed to the health risks of obesity.
Fact: Obesity is already having an adverse impact on
young people
● Type 2 diabetes – once believed to affect only adults – is now being diagnosed among young people.
● In some communities almost half of the pediatric diabetes cases are type 2, when in the past the total was close to zero. Although childhood-onset Type 2 diabetes is still a rare condition, overweight children with this disease are at risk of suffering the serious complications of diabetes as adults, such as kidney disease, blindness, and amputations.
● Sixty-one percent of overweight 5 to 10-year-olds already have at least one risk factor for heart disease, and 26% have two or more risk factors.
Fact: Most people still do not practice healthy behaviors that can prevent obesity: physical inactivity and unhealthy diet. Despite this knowledge:
● Only about 25% of U.S. adults eat the recommended five or more servings of fruits and vegetables each day.
● Less than 25% of adolescents eat the recommended five or more servings of fruits and vegetables each day.
● More than 50% of American adults do not get the recommended amount of physical activity to provide health benefits.
● More than a third of young people in grades 9–12 do not regularly engage in vigorous physical activity.
Fact: Obesity-related costs place a huge burden on the U.S. economy
● Direct health costs attributable to obesity have been estimated at $52 billion in 1995 and $75 billion in 2003.
● Among children and adolescents, annual hospital costs related to overweight and obesity more than tripled over the past two decades – rising to $127 million during 1997–1999 (in 2001 constant U.S. dollars), up from $35 million during 1979–1981.
● Among adults in 1996, one study found that $31 billion of the treatment costs (in year 2000 dollars) for cardiovascular disease – 17% of direct medical costs – were related to overweight and obesity.
AUTHO
R
Roni Davis
Nationally Qualified NPC Figure Athlete
Personal Trainer
Online Coach
Nutrition Consultant
http://www.facebook.com/RoniDavisFigureAthlete
RESOURCES
Public Health. 2007 July; 121(7): 492–496.
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu
Dina C, Meyre D, Gallina S, et al. Variation in FTO contributes to childhood obesity and severe adult obesity. Nat Genet. 2007; 39:724–6.
Frayling TM, Timpson NJ, Weedon MN, et al. A common variant in the FTO gene is associated with body mass index and predisposes to childhood and adult obesity. Science. 2007; 316:889–94.
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