Genetics and socio-economic background would determine whether a teenager will consume too much fat, according to the results of a study published in the journal “JAMA Pediatrics”. Girls who carry the DRD4-7R gene and come from low-income families will tend to eat more fat than others.
McGill Center researchers analyzed medical data, weight changes and eating behaviors from 190 children (94 girls and 96 boys) to understand the link between family environment, obesity gene (DRD4-7R) and consumption. of fat.
The social environment was characterized on the basis of gross family income, and the researchers identified the DRD4-7R gene. About 20% of the population carries the DRD4-7R variant, a gene associated with obesity, particularly in women.
The results of the study revealed that young girls living in less well-off families ate a diet high in fat. However, this link was not observable among well-off adolescent girls.
“In young girls from less well-off families, we found that carriers of the DRD4-7R gene had a diet richer in fat than their peers from the same socio-economic background”, explained Laurette Dubé, principal researcher of the study and scientific director of the McGill Center for the Convergence of Health and the Economy.
“These results highlight the importance of a personalized approach for the prevention of childhood obesity,” said the researcher.
Obesity kills
Europeans are getting bigger and bigger, according to a report by the World Health Organization: 27% of 13-year-olds and 33% of 11-year-olds are overweight. And, the number of overweight or obese inhabitants of the planet reached 2.1 billion in 2013 (including 671 million obese). Yet overweight and obesity are the cause of 3.4 million deaths and the reduction in life expectancy, ”according to an estimate by this institution.
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