The old adage that being overweight “is in the genes” may be true, at least partially, for some, say researchers. A team from the University of Marburg in Germany found mutations in the MC4R gene had a “major” impact on people’s body mass index. BMI is weight in kilograms divided by the square of your height in metres. In the Journal of Medical Genetics, the researchers say people who have the mutations are significantly heavier than those who do not. Rates of obesity amongst UK adults have almost quadrupled in the last 25 years. About 22% of Britons are now obese. Around 10% of six-year-olds are believed to be obese, rising to 17% when 15-year-olds are considered. Obesity is likely to be one of the issues covered in the forthcoming Public Health White Paper, due to be published by the government this autumn.
