Overweight and Genetics
By WLR Dietitian
Q Everyone in my family is overweight, including me. Does
this mean I’ve inherited the condition and no matter how hard I
try to lose weight, I’ll never do it?
A Scientists have been working hard in an effort to identify
genes that have the potential to make us fat. And it does seem there
may be a genetic link to overweight and obesity – but only in a small number of people.
As a
result, most experts agree that while genes may have a part to play,
they still don’t explain the recent rapid increase in overweight that’s
been seen in the Western world.
They believe that while we might
inherit ‘fat’ genes from our parents, we also inherit their bad
habits such as a poor diet and lack of exercise – and it’s these
lifestyle factors that have a more important part to play in weight
gain. This is good news for you as it means with a few lifestyle
changes you should be able to shift those pounds with help from
Weight Loss Resources.
In the meantime, it sounds as though everyone in your family
would benefit from losing weight, so rather than going it alone, why
not try and get everyone involved? While you might meet resistance
from a few family members at first, once they see everyone else
beginning to look slimmer, fitter and healthier, I’m sure they’ll be
desperate to join in!
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