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U.S. Scientists Find Possible Obesity-Influencing Genes
U.S. scientists said Tuesday that they have identified two interacting genes that may play a role in obesity, with which 27 percent of total U.S. population are suffering.
Dr. Ahmed H. Kissebah and his colleagues of the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee reported that one gene found on chromosome 3 and another gene found on chromosome 17 could be acting in concert, impacting several factors that lead to obesity such as blood insulin levels and hip circumference.
The complete report is published in December in the 19th issue of "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."
The team of researchers analyzed the DNA of nearly 2,500 people from 500 families of Northern European descent, according to the report.
Sixty-one percent of Americans are overweight or obese, up from 56 percent in the early 1990s, according to preliminary results of a new government survey. Twenty-seven percent of the population is obese compared with 23 percent in the early 1990s and 15 percent in the late 1970s.
"What's so surprising to me is the magnitude of the increase in such a short period of time. It's quite a jump," said Robert Kuczmarski, a nutritionist from the National Center for Health Statistics, which is part of the Center for Disease Control.
Experts say they expect the overweight problem to get worse during the next decade if Americans don't get a grip on their eating habits.
They also hope the new findings would help resolve the overweight problem in the near future.
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