A gene called FTO could be the cause of many people choose to consume caloric foods instead of others with lower calorie intake.
This gene is also closely related to the feeling of satiety at the time of eating, since it acts by inhibiting it.
Wellcome Trust scientists, the largest medical research body in the United Kingdom, have conducted studies with children and adults in which they have found that those with the common variation of the gene consumed an average of 100 additional calories at each meal. This, in the long term, could cause weight changes.
According to scientists, the presence of the gene is not in itself indicative that a child will eat too much and become obese, but it could mark a tendency in these children to eat more caloric foods than those children who do not have the gene. When a person has two copies or alleles of the gene is 70% more at risk Of being obese. If, on the other hand, it has only one copy of FTO, the danger of having an excessive weight is reduced to 30%.
Despite the discovery, scientists are unaware why some people have two copies of the gene and others have none. However, they point out the importance of these findings for the fight against obesity and its consequences.
"By identifying this genetic linkage, it should be possible to improve our knowledge of why some people are obese, with all that that means for an increased risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease."said Mark McCarthy, a professor at the University of Oxford.
