From my own experience of one seriously obese family, there is a definite inclination to place the blame *anywhere* but on eating too much. I've no idea if these people all had a gene, but they sure as hell ate an absolutely *vast* amount of food. And I'm not sure that feeling more confident when you say "it's my genes" can in any way help people to stop over-eating. I've witnessed this, and then heard the complaints about not being able to lose weight even though "I don't eat much". In this family, there is a complete failure to either recognise (warped perception?), or admit to (shame of?), the immense portion sizes, the second helpings, the puddings drowned in double cream, sandwiches made with half an inch thick slices of cheese, the sweets and biscuits routinely eaten throughout the day and during the evening, the doubled up take aways with large fries twice a week... and so-on. It's tragic as the young women are already morbidly obese - so where will they be in twenty years if they maintain the same eating habits they've learned from their parents in childhood?

For my own part, I know full well that I've got as fat as a very fat thing in the past year or so, from simply ingesting far more calories than my body needs - as a simple behavioural response to depression. Maybe I have a fat gene too, as I've always had to work at staying slim and now I'm not making the effort to eat healthily, I've turned into a fatso! Not really a surprise to me, considering my habits have changed and I know full well I've been more slack than I would if I really cared enough to make the same effort I used to. But I can't see that believing it might be my genetics, will help me when I finally start trying to shake all this excess lard off!