ABSTRACT
The current global obesity epidemic has developed only over the past three decades and cannot be explained by changes in our genome. It is more likely due to a changing environment that promotes excessive calorie intake and discourages physical activity, behaviors that are poorly compensated for, by our pre-agricultural hunter-gatherer genes. Our genome has evolved in times of food scarcity, when the risk of famine was ever present and large amounts of physical effort were required to obtain food. Genes that may have provided a survival advantage under these circumstances may, in the present-day sedentary, food-abundant society, predispose to obesity (1). It is likely that susceptibility to obesity is partly determined by genetic factors, but that an ‘obesity-promoting’ lifestyle is necessary for its phenotypic expression.
