Lifestyle, Not Genes, Are Behind Obesity Epidemic
Don’t blame your genes for that extra flab around your middle—a new study suggests that it’s lifestyle and not heredity that leads to obesity. Researchers analyzed data on nearly 8,800 American adults born between 1900 and 1958 who had participated in a nationwide health and retirement study, looking at factors such as genetic characteristics and body mass index (BMI, a measure of body fat based on height and weight). They found that although the number of obesity-linked genetic factors in the population remained unchanged throughout the study period, levels of obesity grew steadily. Using participants’ birth dates as indications of factors associated with rising weight levels, the researchers found that participants born later in the 20th century were more likely to be overweight, regardless of whether they had any of the 29 genetic variants associated with obesity.
Those participants with greater genetic risk of being heavy appeared to be more influenced by living in settings that promoted obesity, according to the study, which was published in the July 5, 2016 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Compared to those born at the turn of the century, those born later were more apt to consume high-calorie junk foods, ride to destinations rather than walk, and spend time in sedentary leisure activities such as computer games and television. But even participants who were not genetically predisposed to obesity gained weight toward the end of the study period. “This indicates that the environment affects everyone, but people with high genetic risk are even more affected,” the study’s lead author concluded. “The fundamental explanation for the obesity epidemic must lie in environmental changes.”
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