Obese people eat more because their bodies are genetically programmed to demand more calories

Scientists in Aberdeen have found that people who carry a variation of a gene linked to increased obesity eat more food than those without it. They studied 150 people in the north-east of Scotland, aged 21 to 60, and monitored their food intake over seven days. They also took blood samples and other measurements of physical fitness and calculated the amount of energy burned while they were resting. The results showed that people with the variant gene ate between 120 and 290 calories per day more than those who did not have the "at risk" variant. The link between obesity and the gene was discovered last year by another group of British scientists. Subsequent studies in mice have shown that the gene is found in areas of the brain that are associated with the regulation of food intake.