Obesity is no longer treated as a mere lifestyle problem. It's a medical condition that needs an immediate treatment or solution. It is considered to be responsible for some of the deadliest diseases in the world such as type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer. While many pinpoint to genetics and environment as some of the reasons for its rapid growth, a new research considers something different.
The year in which you area born may have some impact on your risk at obesity, based on a research conducted by different institutions. The full study is now available in PNAS Early Edition.
The purpose of the study is to determine whether the conditions at the time a specific age group is born has some effect on gene variance. For this research, they worked with the data available from Framingham Offspring Study. This is one of the most trusted studies in the world, which began in 1948. Back then, primary reason for the research was to identify the risk factors associated with heart disease.
The researchers analyzed the data of children of men and women who were then subjects of the study many years ago. These children are now between 27 and 63 years old, while the team worked on records from 1971 to 2008.
They then determined the BMI of the participants eight differnet times and discovered that those who were born from 1942 showed a strong correlation between the FTO gene variant and BMI. The study may not have clearly identified the differences of environmental conditions that influenced obesity risk and FTO variant, it's possible that some of the lifestyle changes that occurred as early as 1942 might be contributors.
Around this period, more machines became available, and they took over many of the manual jobs. In other words, workers spent less time doing manual labor. Moreover, processed food started to become popular.