What About Genetics? The most common scapegoat people will blame for their weight problem is their genes. ‘It’s in the family,’ they say. But if this was the case, why is the obesity epidemic only 30 years old? Before that, ‘Fatty Fosters’ were the exceptions, rather than the rule. The obesity epidemic is also too recent to suggest that the gene pool could have changed, so how do we explain the family-gene excuse?
Humans have always had the genes (there are more than one by the way) to get fat. But except in those rare ‘Fatty Foster’ cases, they were not enough to overcome our environment, one in which we have had to move around a lot to survive not just to find food but also to avoid our enemies. Since the technological revolution, however, we don’t have to do this any more.
In this new environment, just about everybody has the potential to get fat. Those Fatty Fosters with the greatest genetic payload (who incidentally would have survived longer in times of famine), get fattest in fact morbidly obese. Those with just a few fat-gaining genes become overweight. The changing influence of genes and the environment with increasing body weight, as measured by Body Mass Index (BMI).
Who Can We Blame? The bottom line is that your weight problem is probably not your fault-at least not all of it. A lot of the responsibility lies in the obesogenic environment in which you live, and the genes you inherit make the most of that environment. However, because genes can’t be changed (yet!), your environment, as much as your lifestyle, has to be managed and manipulated if you are to have any success in reducing your, and your family’s, weight.
Within families, the tendency to inherited weight problems is clear. If both mum and dad are overweight, and have been since childhood (which is a fairly clear indication of a genetic predisposition), there is an 80 per cent chance that their children will have weight problems. Where either mum or dad has a problem, the chances drop to 40 per cent (i.e., 2 out of 5 kids might have a problem). Where both mum and dad are lean, there is only an 8 per cent chance that their kids will pick up a weight problem and it will probably be more a result of their lifestyle than genetics.
As well as providing social support for each other, it’s only by working together that the family can change the circumstances in which its fat intake is increased. You may not be able to change the macro-environment that exists in the country or the world, but you can change the micro-environments in your home, school and workplace, and this will go a long way towards reducing the family’s fat load.
There are other reasons why and how the family should be involved in any weight loss program, and these include:
Being there to support each otherChanging the home environmentSaving money, which can go towards a reward for the whole family perhaps a holidayCutting down on medical billsHaving more energy to do things togetherProviding competition for each otherKeeping the family togetherShowing up the relos at Christmas gatherings.
So while the information in this Quick Start program has implications for each individual in the family, it should be taken in by the family as a whole for the best benefits.
Toney Rice engages into weight training to help her tone her abs. For a training manual that can help you train your muscles, check out this Fat Loss Factor. Also check out Thigh Fat Solutions, a program to help you lose fat and gain more muscles.
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