New study founds that genetic predisposition to be blamed for obesity

Weight gain is caused by genetic predisposition rather than by environmental factors, a new study found.

Photo: New study founds that genetic predisposition to be blamed for obesity

The study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, highlighted that genes account for about three-quarters of the differences in a child's waistline and weight. The researchers received such results after examination of more than 5,000 pairs of twins.

Or course, no one excludes such factors as family environment, malnutrition and physical activity, but the genetic theory explains quite controversial cases – inability to lose weight or excessive eating that doesn’t influence constitution.

According to the statistics given by the World Health Organization around 400 million people worldwide are obese, including 200 million children under the age of five.

The researchers examined pairs of identical (share all genes) and non-identical twins (share just part of genes). In the end it turned out that the differences in the children's body mass index and waist circumference were 77 percent attributable to genes and 23 percent due to the environment.

This study doesn’t mean that the one with high predisposition will necessarily become obese and it explains that sometimes parents can’t be blamed for overweight problems of their children.