Dan'l In Portland :
To be fair to Ms Knight, there is a certain form expected of people writing for newspapers rather than academic journals, I wish there weren't but there we go.
Anyway I was rather intruiged and confused regarding your point about East Africans, I think the issue is not East Africans but any population on the planet where food is not abundant will tend to show that in these circumstances people are slim.
I'm totally unconvinced by the genetics argument, I think the issue of obesity is 99% psychology.

Dave, Bristol,

Dear Ms. Knight: It's unfortunate that you've taken a decent point (overindulgence in the west) and muddied it by denying facts. Body type (including 'fat') is often genetic. That hasn't been disagreed with by nutritionists or geneticists for quite some time. The point is, what can you do with what you have; how can you best use the body God gave you. Much of the obesity and overweightness in the west is self-induced. Diet, exercise, rest, stress...all the standard culprits are in the police line-up. But, that doesn't mean someone who's large is abusing their body.

And your point about east Africans is rather disingenuous. To wit, I have many relatives with a similar morphology: and it ain't skinny. However, I have ZERO east African's in my family tree for the last 8-10 generations. Likewise, they do not have my western european genes in their ancestry. Didn't you know that people are different?

Funny how journalists have such a relationship of convenience with facts & science.

Dan'l, Portland, US/Maine

Claudia in Atlanta : You are perpetuating a widespread myth about eating, the person who eats more does so because they have developed a habit to do so. Permanently changing these habits requires dispensing with excuses and self-deception and stopping the bad eating habits for good, then not seeing oneself as someone who "deserves a treat" for self-restraint. There are far more rewarding things in life than eating.

Dave, Bristol,

"have a challenge for you all. Try to exist on half your normal food intake for two weeks, and then see how you feel!!!"

normal food intake? it's not 'normal' thats the point!

my friend has type 1 diabetes and is so frustrated that people give themselves type 2 despite very loud and clear warnings.

lifestyle has changed. more people are in office work than manual labour now. sat on your bum all day at work gives you no exercise, and you can munch on food whilst you work. but even that's no excuse, it is self restraint. simple.

fine, eat chocolate cake! it tastes good! just don't eat it everyday.

Rach, Cardiff, Wales

Society in general has evolved into a blameless culture over the last 15-20 years or so. People are more selfish, and are less likely to accept responsibilty for their own actions, getting fat is easy that's why so many people do it. The path of least resistance is now the more likely choice of anyone who thinks that maybe getting rid of the fat can be done with magic pills and potions.

Tony, Midlands,

The Archbishop has made much of the misreporting by the media, which to an extent seems true. Nevertheless he was asking how aspects of Sharia law can be accomodated into British law, for example divorce and inheritance law, laws that do not give equal rights to men and women, Muslims and non-Muslims. The Archbishop's comments are at best naive.

Nick Lowe, Maidenhead,

What many don't grasp is what's genetic is your baseline appetite level. Some people can eat a couple of tablespoons of icecream and be full. Others can eat the whole container and not be full. Probably in earlier times, many people just existed in a state of greater hunger than others as they all had to eat the same amount of food. For all of you people advocating the fatties to "just lose weight", I have a challenge for you all. Try to exist on half your normal food intake for two weeks, and then see how you feel!!!

Claudia, Atlanta, USA

There are a variety of words we are not allowed to use these days. Two of them are "FAT" and "GREEDY". But both need to be used a lot more.

Dominic Stockford, Teddington, London,

I wonder if India will still have these views in a year or so when she has regained 5 stone after her book sales have dwindled to nothing.

Rich, Nottingham,

I found it ironic that Dr. Anthony Marsh, London UK stated that
WC lived to nearly 100 and Pavarotti lived into his 80s, whereas the previous commentator, Dave, Bristal, got the facts right. WC was just over 90 and LP just over 70! His point was interesting, but his faulty "facts" take away the impact. ```

Ann J, San Francisco, , California USA

Hey India. Please explain compulsive eating.

Emma H., Ottawa,

It never ceases to amaze me how little some people in the media seem to understand science. It's not either/or when it comes the question of nature versus nuture for complex traits such as body fat! Nobody mentioned a specific "fat gene". Rather, studies like the one mentioned are an excellent and reliable way of demonstrating the heritability and thus the genetic component of a particular trait - the trait in this case being predisposition to gain weight. The likely explanation of these results is that there are a no. of genes involved in tendency to weight gain- as yet largely unknown of course.

Rachel, Glasgow,

Evoloution helps people survive in dire situations. Black women in South Africa are biologically built to store fat in abundance.Over thousands of years evolution realized that for women [and thus the human species as a whole] to survive needs a women who can store fat very efficently in famine and drought plagued Africa. To store huge amounts of fat effeciently[on very little food intake] and to let go of it miserly would allow new generations to be born and survive all but the very worst famines.
These are bodies built to deal with great scarcity.Suddenly the scarcity, in the West,is gone and so the "fat store efficent body" is now an enemy unto itself. Very few big Macs and cokes will overload it and obese it. Nature has given us all a different body type to survive the rigours of the past that each in his different circumstance needed to survive. Globalization and migration has nullified all this.Today we all eat the same junk. This is our tragedy,and it must stop.

Leslie Udwin, Jerusalem, Israel

Dr Marsh : It surprises me to see a doctor recounting the parable known to epidemiologists as "Uncle Norman and the last person" whereby those who ignore all he sane rules on health live to a great age and the healthy die early - the stats disprove this idea emphatically.
As a point of interest Churchill died at 91 and Pavarotti at 72, how interesting to speculate on how long they may have lived if they were slimmer.
"Young people suddenly dropping dead" doesn't bear much examination statistically, the reason we take notice of people who do die in those circumstances is the rarity of such events.
Ditto slim models in their 20s - do you know how many women died of anorexia in the UK in 2005 ? I do - it was 14 - undoubtedly all tragic cases but extremely rare events.

Dave, Bristol,

What is really sick is society's obsession with shape. Winston Churchill lived to nearly 100 and slim models are dying in their 20's. Pavarotti lived into his 80's, and young men with "ideal wash board stomachs" are suddenly dropping dead with burn out while exersing to stay healthy. These are hard facts. The next hard fact is - as long as the profit-driven giant corporations can make consumers dissatisfied with their shape (their car's shape, their dog's shape, their child's shape...) the public will continue to part with their money. Do you really think that the greedy fat cat corporations are sincerely concerned about your or your child's health?? In your dreams.

Dr. Anthony Marsh, London, UK

Fat is something that is directly related to cancer and other medical conditions -- this is because any stresses or other influences on the body that may lead to cellular metabolic issues can become cancer.

When the body is put under stress it must cope and in coping regeneration issues arise which can cause damage and when cell become damage they can move from being just normal cells to a cell which has the ability to become carcenogenic. So if your fat and have acid reflux or diabetes or other issues that are medical and relate to the size == in the end it can all lead to cancer

Michael Jackson, Bristol, UK

We are responsible for noticing the effects on us of what we are recommended to do. If that is bad, it is up to move on Your much touted advice doesn't work, the laziness is in pretending that it does because it's too hard to think.

When something doesn't work, you find out whey, your tone reminds me of tourists shouting at the locals thinking that volume =understanding. Nope, you've just said the same old nonsense, LOUDER.

You're welcome to it.

mj, London, UK

Why is research like this being carried out under Cancer Research UK? This looks to me like money that could be put to much better use, especially considering donors who probably expected their money to be used more specifically for cancer.

Matt Saunders, Liverpool,

i wouldnt say being fat is genetic at all. but i would say it is hereditary... fat parents=fat kids.

passing on bad habits is hereditary as is the old.. "my parents were fat and so am i so it must be genetics" excuse, and is easier than going to the gym and way easier than talking ownership of your life.

Phil, Dublin, Ireland

So presumably the "fat gene" doesn't work when people are forcibly deprived of food as in Concentration Camps? Otherwise the old saying "There were no fat people in Aushwitz would not be true". I think we are simply looking at yet another learned report supporting "victim culture".
When we get overweight it is simply because we eat too much and excercise too little - period.

Al, weybridge, UQ

Judith,

Your comments bear out everything India was saying. The fact that everyone in your family is fat is no doubt more to do with an overall attitude to food, than a genetic problem.

There is no need for anyone to be tolerant of your weight - it is your problem & your issue to deal with. I get very angry with fat people when I think of the problems they create for themselves. When one considers the real struggles faced by disabled people, I think the victim-status enjoyed by overweight people really is sickening.

VB, London, UK

I think the point the authors of the study were trying to make was that these days, the general environment causes obesity (eg it being frowned on for kids to walk alone to school, there being heaps of fatty food about) rather than the problems being solely down to individual differences between families. And that genetically, some kids/people are wired to react very strongly to these environmental changes.

So – the answer still has to be that if you or your kids tend to be overweight, you have to work hard in today’s society not to be (whereas some lucky individuals just don’t have the same tendency. Of course we all have to take responsibility for our own lives, but all of us find some things harder than others, so ‘blaming’ people for being overweight is just unhelpful and mean.

charlie, london,

The rise in obesity is, in my opinion, linked to the lack of social interaction as well as over eating. Comfort eating replaces the chemical high of spending time with interesting people and doing interesting things. The rise in the use of facebook etc proves that people in this country are becoming progressively more socially inept, unable to do anything other than plant themselves in front of the television and eat.
Replacing the stimulation with the endophines produced from consumption of food replaces those lost through a lack of social activity.

Will, Huntingdon,

Being overweight myself and constantly trying to shift it I can tell you that it ain't easy. I'm no scientist and I don't know too much about the supposed fat gene but from observation I am convinced that there is a genetic factor. Almost everyone in my mothers family is fat and all my cousins from my mothers side have struggled with their weight at one time or another. My dads family on the other hand can eat and eat and not gain an ounce.
Society is hypocritical. It celebrates the thin rather than the healthy eating. I have a friend who eats junk food galore and never gains an ounce and I who try to eat healthily to reduce my weight am often told I need to eath healthier.
Whether it's genetic or something else, some people are more prone to being fat than others - whatever the reason. Whilst I don't see this as an excuse for people stuffing their faces claiming it's not their fault - a little tolerance needs to be shown to those struggling with excess pounds.

Judith, London,

Spot on India.
Calories consumed minus calories burnt equals calories stored.
Not a tough equation but alot more applicable than a fat gene. If your metabolism is naturally slower, eat less. This constant shunning of blame and refusal to accept responsibilty for your own life is encouraging a nanny state and all members of society will be poorer for it.

Edward, London,

Using the 'logic' of this study I should be a right fattie as my parents are overweight. But I'm not, because I eat well and exercise regularly. The last thing fat people need is another excuse to avoid putting some effort into improving their health.

Shaz, Bristol,

I used to be overweight but I started eating healthy and running and lost 65lbs and now have no patience for fat people that try all these expensive pills and crazy diets its ridiculous. These people need to own up to their fatness and really change not just complain and wait for some magical slim pill.

Nick, Tacoma, US/Washington

Just wondering when big print is going to say something about the real estate mortgage professions "dirty little secret" http://www.FAKEPAYCHECKSTUBS.com It is websites like this that has created the subprime meltdwn and our economic downfall!.....Imagine how many more problems our economy will have (MORE BANK RIGHTDOWNS and FORECLOSURES) unless someone says something!

dennis, san jose, california

Plenty of fat people in the 3rd world -just travel and you will see them - gobbling food and waited on hand and foot by skinny slaves. Sudanese, Somalis, Chinese, Japanese the whole caboodle. India Knight is right! Interesting how many posters have "complex" ! histories which means that being fat is somehow nothing to do with them!!
Still those people who eat buckets of food and never put on weight are downright irritating!

E. Artist, Cambs, UK

I was morbidly obese and even I didn't delude myself that it was my gene's fault. It probably had more to do with the excessive amounts of high calorie food and the general lack of any exercise whatsoever! And to lose the weight I didn't have some sort gene therapy - exercise and healthy food was the way I went.

There is probably some link to being more susceptible to becoming fat - but that is not what makes you fat - laziness and gluttony is what does it!

Anon, London, UK

Ultimately we are all descended from people who survived numerous famines and in general survived on a limited supply of food. Therefore the predisposition of most people to convert excess calories to fat is a genetic advantage inherited from our hardy ancestors. The existence of the inappropriately named 'fat' genes should be no suprise to anyone and as a scientist the findings of this research make sense from an evolutionary perspective. As a society we have only had excess food for a few generations and the current widespread choice of sugary/fatty foods is unprecedented. I seriously doubt whether anyone who conducted this research would contend with the idea that it is the lifestyles of most people which are causing the current obesity crisis in our society. Regardless of our genetic makeup what you eat and how you live is a conscious decision for which you bear the consequences.

David Lea-Smith, Edinburgh, U.K.

Absolutely agree. Being a nurse and coach myself, I work with people with dependencies and addictions.
The addiction disease concept has the same tendency to explain addictive behavior by pointing out genetic differences between people. This focus on "effect" can obscure the potential we have to become the "cause" of our lives.

Paul du Buf, Loughton, UK

"But if a diet high in animal fat increases metabolism, as has been demonstrated, then one can't apply this attractively simple rule to diet. ....Greg Lorriman, Leatherhead, UK"

On the contrary, it is that simple.

Look in the mirror, or at the scales. If you're getting heavier, fatter or both, then simply eat less.

People in the 3rd world don't have these problems as
a) they're short of money relative to us
b) they do much more manual exercise
c) their foodstuffs aren't so sugary/fatty/salty

For us, we simply need to ensure we eat less than we do currently and eat a mixture of things - meat, fruit, veg etc etc.

Clive, Surrey,

Re. the comment that the incidence of the "fat gene" might be increasing in the general population, it was very simply shown exactly 100 years ago by the mathematician GH Hardy, in answer to criticism that Mendelian principles would, if true, lead to an increasing incidence of dominant genes for a particular abnormality and a decreasing incidence of recessive genes, that this could not, in fact, be the case. Hardy used brachydactyly as his example, but the principles apply also to a "fat gene". Assuming random mating, the incidence of both dominant and recessive genes remains constant through successive generations. [Hardy GR, Science 1908;28:49-50 (yr,vol,pp)]. I discovered this paper 20 years ago when an academic researcher in heritable disorders and was, as far as I recall, directed to it by Victor McKusick, the editor of "Mendelian Inheritance in Man". The mathematical principle remains unchanged and was a counter to the arguments of eugenicists.

Peter (Cambridge), Cambridge,

While it is obvious that most people are fat because of their lifestyle - (I have often wondered about "bussing" overweight people to famine stricken areas and bringing the starving over here to help themselves from our overladen supermarket shelves) - nevertheless my partner's family gives pause for thought. There are two genetic models - the very thin that seems to be able to eat anything - and the rather round that no diet seems to impact upon. Looking at grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins there seems to be no intermediate type and I have one of each kind of daughter... both were brought up with identical diets and the same level of exercise - so I think there may be something in it......

Sarah, Manchester,

"Whatever your genetic makeup the simple fact remains that you will only put on weight if your calorific intake exceeds your calorific output! "

But if a diet high in animal fat increases metabolism, as has been demonstrated, then one can't apply this attractively simple rule to diet. The human body isn't as simple as the internal combustion engine.

Greg Lorriman, Leatherhead, UK

Absolutely agree. As my mother says "everything in moderation" - especially exercise!
I'm bringing up my daughter (like I was) to freshly prepare almost everything we eat.
There is no gene, just a lazy acceptance of marketing.

Stu, Brighton, UK

In fact it is easy for people from traditionally poor countries to put on weight when they come to the UK. The Western diet means that people used to living on a small amount of food burn up every last bit of energy they can get from it.

And it really isn't fair to say that genes can't contribute to how a person gains or loses weight. It's obvious why somebody whose ancestors survived through years of famine would easily put on weight on a carbohydrate-rich diet.

The point about this article that made me very unhappy, though, is that (although it may be useful to some people) it is simply inaccurate. What about, eg, those who suffer from hypothyroxia? An inheritable condition, thus 'genetic', the thyroid gland fails to produce sufficient thyroxin, leaving the sufferer prone to huge weight gain and sorely lacking in energy to exercise it off again. It runs in the women on both sides of my family and I fear that it may kick in for me one day, though I am perfectly healthy at present.

Sophie, Aberystwyth,

I feel I may have a rational explanation involving both the genes, and the overindulgence of the west...

...simply that most people in the west tend to pass on their genes in the west, and obeseity has become a genetic feature of the western world, with the gene popping up more and more often as time goes on (the US has had more time at it). There is data however to suggest that people are putting on more weight right around the world.

Chrissy, Bridgend,

Great article! I totally agree about the eating of too many carbs, lack of exercise, and more particularly, lack of control that we see in the UK today.

Dee Hayward, London,

You want to see those porky Ethiopians and Sudanes, pop down to Southall shopping district on a Saturday afternoon.

Tu Short, UK,

I put on a lot of weight before Christmas due to illness which meant i was unable to have my daily two mile walk. On 2nd Jan I started a diet ommitting all sugars. No sweets, cakes, biscuits or alcohol. I have lost over one stone in five weeks and don't feel hungry as I still eat three meals a day and have plenty of fruit and vegetables. Obsesity is caused by too much sugar and fat in the diet and one only has to look at the trolleys in the supermarket to realise why everyone is getting so fat. When I'm back to my weight of 91/2stone I'll start having the occasional glass of wine again. My son is a paramedic and he said he visits families where they are all obese usually sitting around stuffing themselves watching television even whilst the medical team are dealing with their family member who is usually diabetic, surprise surprise.!!

rosalyn, waterford, ireland

So perhaps rather than sweepingly denying creditable scientific research, Knight should inform herself of the subject matter and admit the existence of a particular fat gene. However the underlying theme of her article is a commendable one. A small alteration to her advice (such as stating that those with the 'fat gene' need to regulate their diet and lifestyle more carefully as they have a greater propensity to becoming obese) would render it considerably more poignant and add a certain weight to her unjustified opinions.

Dave Davidson, Horsley,

No fat people in Auschwitz?

peter pendle, sofia, bulg.

Totally agree ; it is a pleasure to actually hear :" get a grip" , a forgetten phrase in today's world of blame culture [ " it's not my fault ...." ] . Well said , as always .

theodore potts, st. ives , nsw, australia

Your points make sense and perhaps they are correct for some percentage of the population. Personal responsibility is certainly lacking with some. But please don't paint everyone into the same picture. Obesity is a complex disease. If it were truly so simple for everyone, the numbers would not be so high. There are many, perhaps millions, like myself who suffer from a complex series of medical issues that make weight loss much more difficult. Very few doctors understand how to work with obese patients. I've lost over 90 pounds and am at a normal weight. I struggle every single day. More than no-nonsense, I had to find REAL information and real help. For example, I was over-exercising and under-eating. I have to eat at least 1,400 calories each day and my exercise must be walking. When I was eating less and exercising more, I could not lose weight. It made no sense to me at the time. I was also taking medications that were preventing weight loss. I'm sure I'm not alone.

Vicki Tambellini, Irvington, USA/VA

The problem is in the word "fat". It describes at one and the same time a food type and a condition leading many to conclude that "fat" makes you "fat", and the obvious conclusion that as long as you don´t eat fat, you won´t become it. We could change the noun to "grease", which would make it even less palatable to eat. However, the problem can only be tackled by extreme measures, as with smoking. So (1) a special tax could be levied on anything containing sugar (2) children cannot buy sweets (3) the sweet trolley will be banned from restaurants (4) you must get onto the scale with your luggage when checking in to the airport. I'm not a smoker by the way, but can't see why there is a distinction between tobacco and sugar if they are both so harmful to individual health and the NHS budget.

David Rippenburn, Hastings,

Two points: first all carbs are absorbed as C6 sugars whatever group the nutritionists claim. Surplus glucose are stored by our "prudent" genes in fat against times of famine. When did the Obesity epidemic start - it coincides with the USDA/Grain merchants promotion of the "Food pyramid" i.e., eat more carbs!
Also distinguish between Obesity and overweight. A much ignored report by Flegal of the US Centers 0f Disease Control
Overweight
JAMA. 2005 Apr 20;293(15):1861-7.
Excess deaths associated with underweight, overweight, and obesity.
Flegal KM, et al
RESULT.
Overweight was not associated with excess mortality (-86,094 deaths; 95% CI, -161,223 to -10,966). That is, Overweight individuals LIVED LONGER than normal weight persons!
Check for yourself on Pubmed.
NOT SURPRISINGLY this study has been widely ignored by the medical establishment and the UK News Media.

M. Cawdery, Portadown, UK

When you and the rest of the middle class hysteria crowd have finished trashing fat people, where you going next?

You seem to have done global warming to deatht - presumably you have to give up too much, like SUVs and foreign holidays.

So what fad follows next? Tirades against people's dress sense? Perhaps you will advocate a return of the sumptuary laws of the tudor times and execute or flog footballers wives and pop stars for geting above themselves?

Perhhaps a campaign for national deoderants? A campaign to ensure people name their kids sensibly?

Neil Murphy, cromer,

It appears that Knight has fundamentally misunderstood the conclusions drawn from this recent scientific study. Phenotype is the physical expression (e.g. obesity) of of your genes (the 'fat gene' in this case) . However, phenotype is not influenced only by your genetics - environmental factors (e.g. quantity and quality of food consumed and amount of physical activity) play an pretty fundamental role. When Knight asks "where are the porky ethiopians", citing it as evidence for the lack of a fat gene, she is merely stating her ignorance on the matter. Many ethiopians will probably have the fat gene, but do not gain the nourishment required for the gene to express itself.

Ben Sharples, Guildford,

At last - sense!!

Graham Armstrong, South Norwood, London

I am lucky in my genes, I cannot remember anyone in my genetic family being overweight. I can put on weight but avoid things which are fattening and exercise a lot. Twice a week weight training and swim one km on saturday, I would do more if time permitted, I am 72.
Drinks, alcoholic and non are a major source of empty calories,
I would favour a ban on all soda type drinks. I once tried coke back when it was introduced in Uk thought it was awful and never touched it since, never let my kids drink it either.
We have only had the sugar industry for about 250 yrs and now it dominates everything.
People who cant go without a type of food, lack will power and are more concerned with instant gratification than their
health and appearance. Fat people who call it beautiful are deluded, fat is ugly.
There are lots of foods I like to eat but I don't for health reasons
after a while you do not miss them.
Letting a child get fat is child abuse and should be dealt with as such.

plato, ely, uk

Whatever your genetic makeup the simple fact remains that you will only put on weight if your calorific intake exceeds your calorific output!
Any other influencing factors - genetics included - are secondary to this indisputable fact, but applying this rule to your life involves accepting responsibility for your own actions. something too many individuals are unwilling to do.
Pseudo-science making excuses merely encourages people to blame factors apparently outside their control, and thus do nothing to manage their diet, and hence their weight.
By adopting a no-nonsense approach to diet and exercise I have lost 50lbs in twelve months, and am having no problems retaining my new lower weight - whatever my genes are trying to do.
Get real, eat less and exercise effectively and stop looking for excuses.

Glenn - Brit ex-pat, Auckland, NZ

Here in China, two problems are plaguing the younger generation - obesity and acne. But neither is visible in places such as the poorer west and, no longer so poor, Tibet. It is incredible, in Lhasa, to walk through the streets and not see a single acne-scarred and/or fat teenager.

Then again, you will scour the streets of Lhasa in vain if you are looking for a western fast food outlet. Not like in places like Beijing, Shanghai or, even, humble Suzhou where such outlets seem to be on every street. Here, young buttocks are bulging, and just about every young face is pock-marked. Meanwhile their parents and grandparents remain slim and beautifully clear-skinned.

QED, really.

Bill , Suzhou, China

Has obesity become a way of some people saying that 'they have a condition' and therefore 'I can get away with a lot more' including responsibility?

I see obesity as an excuse and symptomatic of the laziness and self pitying aspects of our western society. Whiny westerners.

The sickness lies elsewhere than in food and faddy diets. The 'secret', as everyone knows, is eat less and exercise more.

I am working and living in an Eastern European country where the diet is sometimes interesting - pork and potatoes as well as large portions of whatever including cake.

I just don't see many obese people here. This is the capital city but obesity really is the exception.

I really think it's attitude that's the problem in Britain. Too lazy to exercise, too lazy to say no. It's too hard - whinge whine! I have a genetic condition - (rude word not written but is related to bovine males).

Simon, Southampton, UK

Asta, pasta and potatoes as such are not bad. Even WeightWatchers allows you to eat them. The bad thing is the fatty sauces put on them. I eat wholemeal spaghetti nearly every day and I've managed to lose weight - but then I only have the four tablespoons of tomato-based sauce that WW recommends.

Martina, Dusseldorf, Germany

I come from Spain, the EU country with a largest percentage of fat people behind the UK. Twenty years ago, there were hardly no fast-food restaurants in Spain. Coincidentally, Spain did not have an obesity problem. Twenty years later, Spain is full of fast-food restaurants, and we do have a huge obesity problem. Have the genes of Spaniards evolved over this short period of time? Or have our eating habits changed instead?

Joan, London, UK

Repeated behaviors can have an effect over long periods of time - this is true with many conditions. But if behavior is changed, guess what else changes?

Stephanie Press, Los Angeles, CA,

You just have to look around and observe the people you see every day and what they are doing and eating. Fat people are generally not willing to keep themselves fit, they eat the wrong foods, and generally eat too much of it.

So why should we as taxpayers pay for treatments on the NHS for people who have abused themselves?

Perhaps there should be a "fatty tax" paid by the likes of MacDonalds and junk food / chip shops because they are profiting by making people fat so why should they not contribute to the solution as well.

I am sure that there are some genuine reasons for certain forms of obesity in the West in a minority of cases - but having lived in Asia, I did not see many fat Indians or Chinese.

David Phillips, Hereford,

Too often, we view these reports with an either-or attitude. Is not the real truth somewhere in between?

Those with a "fat gene" need to control their eating patterns more carefully. The poor of whatever nation can be fat because of the simple carb diet they are forced to eat.

Athletes and other health fanatics pay close attention to complex carbs, the glycemic index, etc. One can eat a lot more carbs with a low GI index.

Even the adage, "if it tastes good, it is not good for you", is not an absolute. Those who change their eating patterns eventually come to like and enjoy healthier foods. But like being an alcoholic, one is never cured.

Dr. Death, Hong Kong,

If you eat more than you use, you get fat. Where’s the problem in understanding that – it really is that simple.

Fat people should stop stuffing yourselves, or get more exercise.

Les Wortley, Manchester, Lancashire

While it's probably true that the main causes of obesity are poor diet and little exercise, rather than a fat gene, we need to be interpret the 'fat scare' with a skeptical eye as well. Presumably the main measure that is used to say that someone is 'obese' is the body-mass index (BMI), which can be highly misleading. According to the BMI, I am obese, yet I eat sensibly, work out with weights 3 times a week and go for walks in the hills. The BMI also says that Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone are obese, and even Brad Pitt is overweight. The BMI just compares your weight to your height, and takes no account of whether the weight is muscle or fat.

Harry Williams, Dundee, Scotland

Hmm, I know quite a number of people who enjoy their daily pastas and potatos and are really slim. Others can´t because this makes them fat.
These are the folks with the `"fatty genes".

As for the argument "There were never fat people around during times of starvation", maybe the thin ones with high running metabolisms had already passed away?

Asta, Hamburg, Germany

But why wasn't these 'fat genes' remarked on over 20 years ago? Because there were not the number of fat kids then, so how does that square with the fat gene theory? Has it suddenly reared its fat head?

Peter K Day, Doncaster, UK/ Yorkshire

The fat gene is actually probably in reverse : we are designed, as hunter gatherers, for a relatively low-carb diet. With the advent of farming evolution has eventually given us a gene for coping with our greatly increased consumption of carbs, which otherwise makes us fat. But as with blue eyes and brown eyes: some of us have the gene for carbs and some don't.

So really it is a thin gene.

Greg Lorriman, Leatherhead, UK

Yes yes yes! I work in retail here in Brisbane and love observing people. I see whole families - Ma, Pa, teenagers, toddlers and babies, all the same shape - butterball - all stuffing themselves with hot chips, muffins and cola, and wondering why they can't get clothes to fit any of them. Its right in front of their faces, disappearing down their gullets. Lard in its various forms being gobbled by the ton. And we can all see where its going. Why can't they?

There were so many of them in the store the other day I was hoping they wouldn't all jump up and down at the same time. They would have knocked the world off its axis.

Cheryl, Brisbane, Qld, Australia

A fat person who wants to lose weight has to start out from where they are, with not only their current weight but their current habits. And a person who has spent their entire life failing to lose weight has great difficulty maintaining their motivation, because losing weight is a very slow process. This is why people go for crash diets that they believe will quickly show some result, and then fail all over again because they can't maintain it. The fact that we need more self control is the problem, not the solution.
"Eat whatever you like, but only when hungry" is an excellent precept, but unworkable for most of us: we have spent too long, on diets and off, ignoring our hunger or lack of it. Somebody needs to invent a way of making the miniscule weight loss visible and measurable. Don't give us food - give us feedback!

Rosemary, Germany,

Nicely put! If 'obesity' is purely genetic, why no long line of grossly fat ancestors?

This obsession with finding the "Gene for..." is excruciatingly simplistic. I'd highly recomend Matt Ridley's 'Nature Via Nurture' for those who want to know more. In it, as I recall, he suggests that: There is no genetic disposition to fat-ness, but there may be a genetic tendency to force down another tub of ice cream if it's there.

G Johns, Athens,

Hi India. I usually enjoy reading your articles, but not so much today. I'm not sure I can do this justice by putting it in my own words, so I'm adding a link. If you -- or any of your readers -- have the time and inclination to have a read of this and other, similar blogs, you might find them interesting.

http://kateharding.net/but-dont-you-realize-fat-is-unhealthy/

I hope they at least make you a little more open-minded about obesity and fatness.

Mrs Fisch, Northern Italy,

I agree with all of that apart from "We need to educate ourselves about nutrition and we need to read the label" It is not about reading lables, it is about buying food without lables, fresh food, with which you make things. A stir fry of wonderful quality is done, start to finish, in 45 mins. People with weight problems, don't need to not like food as much, they need to like food more. Then they would care about the real quality and unadulterated delight that freach food can bring.

Brian, Oxford,

I certainly have to agree with this. I was always terribly sympatric with fat people until I lived with one. I had a chubby roommate, who became fat, then obese to the point of breaking furniture--all before my very eyes. Finally, I had to ask him to leave.
Although one person does not a study make, the fact that he would not take responsibility for his body and diet--it was appalling--seemed to me to inevitably creep into other areas of domestic life. After breaking a solid oak desk chair, he insisted that it was a design flaw of a chair made since 1850 or so, and not the rolls of his fat taxing the struts. Of course, he refused pay for getting it fixed. Nor to fix the depressions in a pine floor from the breakfast chair legs. As for other psychological tidbits, I can only say that he was a shrink's smorgasbord.
For better or worse, I now look at the obese as individuals with deeply, deeply unresolved problems. I know that when I was putting on lbs, I simply changed my life.

JHSibal, Kew Gardens, , NYC, USA

I simply couldn't agree more.

Rob, London, UK