A new gene has been identified that may dramatically increase one’s risk for obesity by increasing one’s likelihood to eat higher-calorie foods.
In a new study, four-year old children were placed in a room and given the opportunity to consume either a healthy meal or a high-calorie, unhealthy meal. Researchers found that subjects with a certain gene were significantly more likely to choose the high-calorie, “comfort foods”.
Two years later, the researchers measured the children’s body weights. Amazingly, the amount of calories that the children had consumed during the test meal when they were four was able to accurately predict their body weight at the age of six, suggesting that this gene can have a profound impact on one’s health by increasing their likelihood for overeating and developing excess body fat.
Conclusions
The findings of this study are highly intriguing for a multitude of reasons.
First of all, this study sheds more insights on to the genetic component of obesity. Many people mistakenly assume that fat people have genetics that cause a “slow metabolism” and that they can gain weight on a small amount of calories. This is mostly false, however, and instead the genetic component of obesity has much more to do with genes that increase caloric intake.
In no way, however, does this suggest that people with these genes cannot still achieve a normal body weight and live a healthy life.
For one thing, humans are not lab rats and we have the capacity to modify our environment to prevent ourselves from overeating, despite our innate genetic tendencies to seek out high-calorie foods.
Additionally, most people underestimate how much of an effect that environment has on gene expression. It’s entirely possible that this gene, as well as other genes that promote obesity, can be suppressed by living a healthy lifestyle.
That being said, however, it is important that healthcare practitioners, as well as the general public, be aware that some people are born with certain genetic dispositions that may increase their likelihood to overeat.
References
1 Silveira PP, et al. Association between the seven-repeat allele of the dopamine-4 receptor gene (DRD4) and spontaneous food intake in pre-school children. Appetite. 2014; 73: 15.