Is your weight all down to your DNA?
It might seem incredibly unfair but there really are people who can eat what they like and not put on an ounce. A study has found that being slim is in your genes so that many people can stay slender with no willpower required.
Scientists have identified a series of genes which may speed up a persons metabolism or help them burn off fat more quickly.
They studied about 1600 thin but healthy people, who in some cases just weren’t bothered about food, but 40% of them said they ate what they wanted when they wanted without putting on weight.
These people have particular genes that mean they don’t store fat and scientists are now working on replicating this gene to use on overweight people to see if it makes a difference.
The largest ever study of genes was done in the UK, with naturally thin people that didn’t exercise, and then compared them to people of average weight and also those classed as obese and they found 4 additional genes in the thin people that the others didn’t have! The scientists confirmed that 18% of thinness is in our DNA.
However, most obesity is acquired in adult life and that is down to lifestyle, lack of exercise and poor food choices, so there’s no excuse to sit back and blame your parents!