DO YOUR GENES PLAY A PART?
MC4R gene mutations are related to about six per cent of obesity cases
Gaining and losing body fat isn’t the same process for all people. Around half of the factors that result in excess fat storage and obesity are due to genetics. One of the genes that partly dictates the level of hunger a person feels is the FTO gene. This gene can either hold a high or low-obesity risk variant. Research shows that if someone inherits a high-risk variant from each parent, their chance of developing obesity increases by 70 per cent. In the body of someone with the high-risk variant, a hunger hormone called ghrelin – responsible for telling your brain you’re hungry – circulates at higher levels for longer after eating. Thus a person is more likely to continue eating and not feel as full.