Oresai
12-11-2008, 05:09 AM
I may come under fire for this, but I do think the so called `obesity gene` is a pile of rubbish.
This is based on my knowledge of the past when relatively few folks were clinically obese compared to today, mainly down to a different diet and less sedentary lifestyle.
I really do think the discovery of this gene will give the go ahead for obese people to eat more, exercise less, and blame it all on their ancestry. :rolleyes2:
source, The Scotsman Online.
I'm not greedy, it's all in my genes
Date: 11 December 2008
By Frank Urquhart
IF YOU are always first to reach for the sugary and fat-filled foods at the buffet you might be driven by your genes, a study suggested yesterday.
Researchers at Dundee University have found that a form of the obesity gene known as FTO, which is present in more than 60 per cent of the population, causes people to consume an extra 100 calories on average at a single meal.
It is hoped that the discovery could pave the way for initiatives to tackle Scotland's obesity epidemic through targeted dietary control. The research, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, involved 100 children aged between four and ten.
Professor Colin Palmer, who led the research at the university's Biomedical Research Institute, explained that the team offered the children a range of food options from ham, cheese and crisps, to grapes, cucumber, carrot and chocolate buttons, orange juice and bread rolls.
They found that children who had the variant of the FTO gene chose to eat food types that contained more sugar and fats, rather than healthier options. This meant that they consumed 100 more calories during the meal than those without the variant.
But having the gene variant did not affect a child's metabolism or levels of physical activity.
Prof Palmer said: "This work demonstrates that this gene does not lead to obesity without overeating and suggests that obesity linked to this gene could be modulated by careful dietary control.
"What it effectively shows is that the people with the relevant variants on the gene have a trait which may lead them to eat more unhealthy, fattening foods."
But he added: "I would stress that this is a trait, and not an absolute occurrence."
Prof Palmer said the findings did not change the dietary and lifestyle advice to people, which would be to eat relatively healthily and take exercise.
"But these findings do also reinforce the hypothesis that the increase in obesity seen in children over recent years may be largely attributable to the widespread availability of inexpensive and highly energy-dense foods, which may be more attractive to the large proportion of the population who carry this genetic variant," he said.
Prof Palmer was part of the large group of scientists which first discovered the FTO obesity gene in 2007.
They found that individuals carrying one copy of the variant had a 30 per cent increased risk of obesity, while individuals carrying two copies of the variant had almost a 70 per cent increased risk of obesity.
He explained: "What we are doing with this work is debunking the old myths which are still often repeated in relation to obesity: 'I have big bones', or 'I have a slow metabolism', or indeed 'it is in my genes'.
"Most obesity is associated with rather weak genetic tendencies that are modifiable by diet and exercise. The genetics of obesity are complicated and it is likely that there are other genes which will have an effect. But we are now clearly seeing the effects of genetic variants, like this one in FTO."
WHAT NEXT
ONE in three UK adults – or some 13 million people – will be obese by 2012, research has suggested.
And nearly half of them will come from low-income and disadvantaged communities.
The researchers, from University College London, said this would widen the health inequalities gap even further.
The estimates are based on data from the Health Survey for England, 1993 to 2004.
The study found that, during this period, the prevalence of obesity almost doubled in men, from 13.6 per cent to 24 per cent, and rose from 16.9 per cent to 24.4 per cent among women.
On the basis of that, it is forecast that 32.1 per cent of men and 33.1 per cent of women will be obese by 2012.
The findings were published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
This is based on my knowledge of the past when relatively few folks were clinically obese compared to today, mainly down to a different diet and less sedentary lifestyle.
I really do think the discovery of this gene will give the go ahead for obese people to eat more, exercise less, and blame it all on their ancestry. :rolleyes2:
source, The Scotsman Online.
I'm not greedy, it's all in my genes
Date: 11 December 2008
By Frank Urquhart
IF YOU are always first to reach for the sugary and fat-filled foods at the buffet you might be driven by your genes, a study suggested yesterday.
Researchers at Dundee University have found that a form of the obesity gene known as FTO, which is present in more than 60 per cent of the population, causes people to consume an extra 100 calories on average at a single meal.
It is hoped that the discovery could pave the way for initiatives to tackle Scotland's obesity epidemic through targeted dietary control. The research, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, involved 100 children aged between four and ten.
Professor Colin Palmer, who led the research at the university's Biomedical Research Institute, explained that the team offered the children a range of food options from ham, cheese and crisps, to grapes, cucumber, carrot and chocolate buttons, orange juice and bread rolls.
They found that children who had the variant of the FTO gene chose to eat food types that contained more sugar and fats, rather than healthier options. This meant that they consumed 100 more calories during the meal than those without the variant.
But having the gene variant did not affect a child's metabolism or levels of physical activity.
Prof Palmer said: "This work demonstrates that this gene does not lead to obesity without overeating and suggests that obesity linked to this gene could be modulated by careful dietary control.
"What it effectively shows is that the people with the relevant variants on the gene have a trait which may lead them to eat more unhealthy, fattening foods."
But he added: "I would stress that this is a trait, and not an absolute occurrence."
Prof Palmer said the findings did not change the dietary and lifestyle advice to people, which would be to eat relatively healthily and take exercise.
"But these findings do also reinforce the hypothesis that the increase in obesity seen in children over recent years may be largely attributable to the widespread availability of inexpensive and highly energy-dense foods, which may be more attractive to the large proportion of the population who carry this genetic variant," he said.
Prof Palmer was part of the large group of scientists which first discovered the FTO obesity gene in 2007.
They found that individuals carrying one copy of the variant had a 30 per cent increased risk of obesity, while individuals carrying two copies of the variant had almost a 70 per cent increased risk of obesity.
He explained: "What we are doing with this work is debunking the old myths which are still often repeated in relation to obesity: 'I have big bones', or 'I have a slow metabolism', or indeed 'it is in my genes'.
"Most obesity is associated with rather weak genetic tendencies that are modifiable by diet and exercise. The genetics of obesity are complicated and it is likely that there are other genes which will have an effect. But we are now clearly seeing the effects of genetic variants, like this one in FTO."
WHAT NEXT
ONE in three UK adults – or some 13 million people – will be obese by 2012, research has suggested.
And nearly half of them will come from low-income and disadvantaged communities.
The researchers, from University College London, said this would widen the health inequalities gap even further.
The estimates are based on data from the Health Survey for England, 1993 to 2004.
The study found that, during this period, the prevalence of obesity almost doubled in men, from 13.6 per cent to 24 per cent, and rose from 16.9 per cent to 24.4 per cent among women.
On the basis of that, it is forecast that 32.1 per cent of men and 33.1 per cent of women will be obese by 2012.
The findings were published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.