Do you think you are fat because your parents are fat?
Do you think that because your parents are obese, their children will also become obese due to genetics?
However, the Japan Society for the Study of Obesity states that 30% of the causes of obesity are genetic and 70% are due to lifestyle factors.
Suppose there are two children, and the father is thin while the mother is overweight. According to Mendel's law, one child will be thin and the other will be overweight. However, a research report from the United States that collected data from thousands of people found that if the father is thin and the mother is overweight, the probability of both children becoming overweight is 75%, whereas if the father is overweight and the mother is thin, the probability of both children being slim is 75%.
If the mother is slim, she can prevent her children from becoming obese by changing their diet and making them exercise. If the mother is overweight, she may give her children more food based on her own consumption. Therefore, if the mother is overweight, the entire family, including pets, may become overweight. Obesity is not genetic, it's a lifestyle disease.
When is the number of fat cells determined?
The three times in a person's life when fat cells proliferate are as follows:
- during fetal development, when a mother's overeating can cause excessive growth of a fetus's fat cells;
- during infancy, around 1-2 years old, when excessive milk consumption can lead to an increase in the number of fat cells;
- during adolescence, a time when sex hormones are secreted and the body undergoes changes. Overeating snacks while studying at a desk can cause an increase in fat cells.
After these periods, no matter how much exercise or dieting is done, the number of fat cells in the body will not change. Only the amount of fat inside the fat cells can change.
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