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8 - Genes, Food, Exercise and Weight

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 September 2020

Denis R. Alexander
Denis R. Alexander
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
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Summary

‘Skinny genes the “secret to staying slim”’ proclaims the BBC website. ‘Scientists say they have discovered the secret behind why some people are skinny while others pile on the pounds easily’. Well, maybe, but such headlines can easily leave people with the wrong impression, or even the feeling that life has dealt them a deterministic set of genes leading to a pile of flab that no amount of exercise or dieting is going to shift.

Looking at some changes in average weight in different populations can help in gaining some perspective on the question. The number of Americans with obesity has steadily increased over the past five decades until today more than one-third of the adult population is obese and over two-thirds are overweight (Yang and Colditz, 2015).

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Are We Slaves to our Genes? , pp. 130 - 142
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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