Our genes can affect our risk of being obese.
GenesWhatever the environment, some people stay thin and some become obese. Research shows that obesity tends to run in families. Studies with twins and adopted children have shown that genes, rather than shared lifestyles, play a key role in this.
Obesity-related genes could affect how we metabolism food or store
fat. They could also affect our behaviour, making us inclined towards lifestyle choices that increase our risk of being obese :
- Some genes may control appetite, making us less able to sense when we are full.
- Some genes may make us more responsive to the taste, smell or sight of food.
- Some genes may affect our sense of taste, giving us preferences for high fat foods, or putting us off healthy foods.
- Some genes may make us less likely to engage in physical activity.
People with
obesity-related genes are not destined to be obese. But they will have a higher risk of obesity. In the modern environment, they may need to work harder than others to maintain a healthy body weight by making long-term, sustained lifestyle changes.
Behaviour changes can help you to reach a healthy body weight.
We cannot alter our genetic make-up and it is very difficult to control our environment. But we can learn how to control the lifestyle choices we make.
Because our calorie balance is controlled by instinctive drives, short-term ‘quick fix’ solutions (including most
diet programs) eventually fail. Instead, we must make long-term lifestyle decisions including healthy eating and regular physical activity to reduce our risk of being obese.
This in turn will reduce our risk of
cancer,
heart disease,
diabetes and several other major diseases. Even relatively small losses, such as 10% of our total weight, can have positive effects on our health.
