http://www.independent.co.uk/life-s...en-2365307.html



http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/co...hort/165/10/900

Oh that's a neat trick. There's no data about genes, but that's the conclusion anyway. Genes must be responsible, dontchaknow. I propose an alternative. Whatever makes the mother thin or thick, also affects the genes of the fetus that affect thinness/thickness of the fetus. I mean, whatever makes the mother thin/thick, must act on the mother's genes for that. Why shouldn't this thing act on the fetus genes too?

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/w_Diet...ory?id=14673043

It's the age old question: "Heredity or environment?" Luckily there's a cure available for the open minded willing to give it a go

Well, my ex is an "ectomorph" body type, and my son looks like him... long and lean. Smaller chest cavity than my side of the family, long legged, slender build in the thighs and arms. A "runner's build".

My Daddy and I are "mesomorphs". He had the Vee shape, powerful thighs, good shoulders and I got the "hourglass". (My sands have shifted a bit, but I still have the hourglass... )

My Mum is an endomorph. She has the bird legs, the big breasts, the flat rear, and slender though muscular thighs. She passed this body type on to my eldest daughter.

That much of it, at least, IS genetics.
How they eat is learned.

And of course there is the whole aspect of how the uterine environment alters which genes are switched on and off and can have long term consequences for the baby when adult

That's what I was wondering -- if the mom drinks liters of pop, crisps and cookies won't the fetus naturally develop more "fat cells?"

You bet they do, but not always. I ate gallons of ice cream when pregnant. All my children were long and lean, still are. My Aunt, is obiese and she eats, um a lot and unhealthy, and her children were born hugely obiese. The children are still very large, not height, just around.

Born with more fat cells, intresting thought.

The only reason this doesn't jive with me is because both my husband and I have battled weight issues forever, but our kids are slender- near the bottom of the "weight curve" so to speak, and are 9-15 years old. Why didn't they get our "fat" genes? If I had my daughter's body when I was 15? Whoa- watch out!

My simple explanation is that some people succumb to carbohydrate/grain poisoning and some people do not.

I'm not sure of the exact mechanism but yes, if a fetus is exposed to high blood sugar levels during pregnancy (such as when you have gestational diabetes) he/she will tend to have a high birth weight and have a higher chance of being obese later on. I think that's been proven in studies.

On the other hand, if a baby is exposed ketosis, it will be assumed that the baby will be born in an environment where there might be starvation, so the genes for putting on weight will be activated. So I heard the recommendation to stay out of ketosis when pregnant. I don't have a reference for this bit of info, but I think I heard from a couple of sources, including Chris Kresser.

I think it's a combination of genetics and nutrition. I am an hourglass like my mom. I was very thin until my late 20's. I ate junk, junk and more junk and didn't gain. But that diet caught up with me and now I'm a fat hourglass..like my mother.

It's plausible to pass on genes for a particular trait. Evolution works on that principle after all. More or less fat tissue could be one such trait. However, for our purpose, genes are not the driver of obesity or leanness. We see fat children of lean parents and vice verse. So even though parents may pass on lean genes, their children could still grow fat.

Taubes talks about fat Louisa and the Pima who were lean just a few generations ago but are now obese. Weston Price shows that the second generation is that much more sensitive to the dietary changes. Maybe because they are exposed to it since birth. Taubes talks about Zucker rats who, when starved from birth, will grow just as fat but with smaller organs. Organs don't shrink like this normally which suggests that the environment can have a significant effect on our growth, especially if we're exposed to this environment at a young enough age. The idea of stunting growth due to growth hormone deficiency for example is pretty much an accepted possibility. This further gives weight to the idea that obesity is not really a question of genes, but a question of environment, especially hormonal environment.

I agree! DH and I were always heavy, I had GD, yet both kids (ages 20 and 26) are slim.

There are examples of both theories in abundance. I believe twin studies have shown that obesity is heritable, though. i.e., twins raised separately...one in a slim household, one in an obese one, turn out to have very similar body weights.

Kids trend after their parents- its not set in stone, but it happens. My mom was a slim child, she became chunky as a teen and slimmed out in her twenties. Similarly, I was a tiny little kid (my knees were the biggest part of my legs) and then I was a size 10 when I was a teen...now I'm a size 0/2.

All the men on my fiance's side look positively anorexic until the age of 24 ish, when they turn into "men-shaped" individuals- still ectomorphs, but with a little tummy if they don't watch it.

I was told the other day, that when I was tiny and ran around the house naked, they joked about my larger thighs (apparently prominent even them) and how I got them from my fathers side of the family. My mother then, was stick thin and didn't healthy at all. I was always a touch heavy and aware of it when I hit my teens. My father mentioned my weight gain and I was shocked and hurt, I have since bounced my weight around.

My mother now is heavy in her belly, my father is heavy everywhere.

I believe genetics play a part, how our bodies handle food and where the fat is placed. Our environment plays a huge part too. I grew up on a "poor farmers diet". Limited meat, potatoes, pasta and very little canned veggies. We learned at a young age to wolf down our food so we could, maybe get seconds and not go hungry, (you had to eat faster than my step-father) Goodies were limited but it was always in the house, chips were our afternoon snack, Mom wasn't home to tell us no.

Both environment and genetics play a huge part in our weight. I now ban most junk food, so the environment is "cleaner", we do have some junk food, but not often. My children are stick thin like there father, he eats grains, he shits for days and stays skinny. I would hate for them to have weight issues like I did, so its up to me to make there environment healthier.

Question for all you that say your kids are thin though.. What are their lifestyle like? Are they the kids that come home from school and sit on the computer until they go to bed or are they outside walking around or standing around with friends?

I sometimes walk my dogs at this small park behind the schools.. it's a neighborhood-like area. Lots of kids are always outside..playing tennis, basketball..or just standing around watching games. Funny how I never see fat kids there.


I was the thin one in highschool and had the fat friend.. she would walk to work every day which was around 1-2 miles from her house...which was Wendys and would get free meals. Would walk to the bakery/deli and get food there. Parents were fat and Diabetic. She was finally diagnosed with a "low thyroid" around 17.. but regardless..she was a carb addict and just ate like a pig. It was gross..I couldn't be around her eating. Super sized Mcdonalds with cokes..everything smothered in condiments. She'd just eat ketchup out of the packet. Bread with dinner smothered in butter, 2 entire rolls of Chips&Ahoy cookies, bags of potato chips at once. Her parents were fat but didn't eat that disgusting. They ate more..normal.