A lot of obese people like to think that they have this obesity gene

The big weight loss and obesity news is that scientists say they have now fully understood a gene which greatly increases the susceptibility for humans to suffer from obesity. The gene makes people put on weight by blocking signals that inform them that they are full therefore keeping them in a hungry state. The gene which is known as the FTO gene had previously been linked to obesity but scientists were not certain whether it had an effect on the amount of calories that the body burnt or whether it had some connection to appetite signals.

Researchers carefully examined almost 3,500 children and saw that the gene is linked to a problem with healthy appetite control. Whereas most people’s bodies switch off the appetite when they are full and thus the body tells them that they are satisfied this particular FTO gene prevents this mechanism from happening and thus people carry on eating.

The researchers saw that children who had two copies of this the FTO gene were far less likely to experience suppressed appetite when eating and similarly genetically afflicted adults was seen to weigh an average of three kilos more than those adults who did not possess the gene.

This research is fascinating because for the first time it conclusively proves that there is some genetic reason why some people are more overweight than others. A lot of obese people like to think that they have this obesity gene but it had never previously been conclusively proven that one existed.

However before you go thinking that the reason you are fat is because you have this gene and that it will be easily fixed you need to think again. Firstly the number of people who have this gene is extremely small and a tiny proportion of the amount of obese and overweight people in the United Kingdom have it, so even if you are overweight it is not likely that you have this gene. The second point to consider is that even if you do have this gene there is no cure to put it right. The scientists at the University College of London said that they were observing a “thousand piece jigsaw” and all they had done is show how the first couple of pieces fitted together.

Dr David Haslam from the UK National Obesity Forum said that any cure for the problem of this extremely rare obesity gene would take years to be developed and it was important that overweight individuals did not think that there was some miracle cure for their weight problem. This obesity gene research was published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.