By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
Many of us must have had the experience of grimacing over chubby thighs or waists, vowing to go on a stricter diet.
However, a professor claims that much of our ``obesity'' is due to our genes, not the pizzas or hamburgers we ate last night.
Prof. Hur Yoon-mi of Chonnam University studied 888 pairs of twins in Korea and hypothesizes that obesity is 80 percent related to genes and 20 percent to other environmental factors.
The team recorded the sex, height, weight and body mass index (BMI) of all subjects. The BMI is calculated by dividing one's weight (kilograms) by the square of one's height (meters). Those over 25 are classified as being obese, 18-22.9 as normal and less than 18 as underweight.
Hur found that identical twins shared similar BMIs. Female and male identical twins had 88 percent and 83 percent chance of sharing similar BMIs, respectively, while non-identical twins had a respective 42 percent and 33 percent chance of sharing the same BMIs in the case of females and males.
``Each pair of twins had the same food and environment and were brought up by the same parents. The difference was in the amount of genes shared. The fact that they share similar BMI shows that the gene has much to do with obesity,'' Hur said.
However, she did say that if one twin suffered a serious illness or ate high quantities of snacks this could cause a difference between twin siblings' BMIs. ``Those could be just about everything that influences the rest of the difference.''
Also, Hur said that the study was done on Asians and there may be difference among other race groups. ``I understand that Caucasians or Black people could have a different genetic structure.''
So, being too overweight may still not be good for your health and putting off some pounds would well help. But you may feel relieved that it is not the chocolate bar or a piece of fried chicken that is responsible for your wide middle.