Jubilee Griffith
Writing For The Sciences
2/27/22
“I’m Only Fat Because My Parents Are Fat”
This statement however is not true. It’s kind of a weird way to start this but it is definitely not true that just because your parents are fat, you are. People like to commonly call this the “obesity gene”. The obesity gene in this sense implies that obesity is inherited as reason to be obese. While this may seem like quite an accurate implication, the actual definition of the obesity gene can be defined as several genes that contribute to weight gain and body fat distribution. As this is the definition, there is actually no such thing as the obesity gene. The real issue is epigenetics. What have we been fed with? What do we have access to?
So what is obesity exactly? Obesity is a disorder that involves excessive body fat that increases the risk of health problems. It usually stems from an individual taking in more calories than they are monitoring or exercising off. Obesity is determined when the body mass index (BMI) is at least 30 or greater. People with obesity often suffer from health problems such as hypertension, diabetes and so much more along with death. According to the CDC, in the United States, in the span of 17 years the amount of people with obesity has increased from 30.5% to 42.4% and “medical costs for people who had obesity was $1,429 higher than medical costs for people with healthy weight”. Actually, this extra 12% is much more prevalent in some communities than it is in others. “Non-Hispanic Black adults (49.6%) had the highest age-adjusted prevalence of obesity, followed by Hispanic adults (44.8%), non-Hispanic White adults (42.2%) and non-Hispanic Asian adults (17.4%)”. According to “Socioeconomic Status and Dissatisfaction With Health Care” by Am J Public Health “Various authors have called attention to the simplistic ways in which SES is often used, and the relative infrequency of studies of class-based differences in health within ethnic groups as opposed to studies that compare ethnic group”. Why is that? This is because there are many social and health disparities in these communities which leads us to epigenetics. Before get in to the topic of epigenetics, studies imply that the obese are not to blame for their condition. “Obesity Is in the Genes” by Jeffrey M. Friedman talks about the high prevalence of obesity in generations of people with obesity and how it is inherited. “Recent research has revealed that obesity is to a very large extent encoded in our genes. Indeed, studies of identical twins reveal that the heritability of obesity ranges between 70–80 percent, a level that is exceeded only by height and is greater than for many conditions that people accept as having a genetic basis.”. Even in twins, studies have seen how obesity is hereditary, but overall, they are twins. Twins adopt the same eating habits so this might be the reason why. Once again, what have they been fed with? What communities have they grown in?
Obesity is much more prevalent in more communities than in others. The only type of “gene” that influences obesity is epigenetics. Obesity is based on social disparities in these communities. It is actually very rare that obesity occurs in families because of a gene. “Rarely, obesity occurs in families according to a clear inheritance pattern caused by changes in a single gene.” according to the CDC. The most commonly implicated gene is MC4R (melanocortin 4 receptor). MC4R is a protein that people tend to gain weight from in early childhood via “MC4R- a key regulator of body weight” by The University of Cambridge Metabolic Research Laboratories. But this gene is not typically found in people that are obese and have obese parents. According to the CDC, “Epigenetics is the study of how your behaviors and environment can cause changes that affect the way your genes work.” These changes however, are reversible and change how your body interacts with a DNA sequence. Some environmental factors such as physical activity, socioeconomic status, parent feeding behavior and diet all affect obesity rates. This leads us to believe that there are many social disparities and determinants that affect these people specifically in those communities with lower socioeconomic status. Social determinants are anything that impacts a person’s lifestyle and is based on their access to resources. In these communities, there is less access to good healthcare, groceries and overall they dwell in more poverty. People that don’t have enough money or are in a lower socioeconomic class wouldn’t be able to acquire good health care and valuable resources such as vegetables and healthier foods and even housing experiences. So how does this correlate with obesity and epigenetics? If a parent is not able to secure fresh and reliable food for their child, they are bound to buy unhealthier foods that will feed the family for a lower price. Unfortunately the outcome of this can cause constant snacking, less exercise because it isn’t instilled in the child and ultimately will lead to childhood obesity that can stick with them in their older age. There is not an obesity gene, it solely relies on epigenetics and its effects.
How does this affect the children? They may become so much more insecure about their size that they cannot help and not because of genetics, but because of what they grew up in. In society, bigger kids at a young age often get bullied for their size and most likely their parents are bigger also. This may make them start forming new eating habits and maybe even disorders. But also sometimes they cannot help it. These tendencies may decrease their mental health values. According to “The Emotional Toll of Obesity”, “If your child is obese, he is more likely to have low self-esteem than his thinner peers. His weak self-esteem can translate into feelings of shame about his body, and his lack of self-confidence can lead to poorer academic performance at school”. At such a young, tender age, children can become more self aware and are much more worried about how they look and what they should wear. There are many social stigmas and stereotypes on what an ideal body may look like. Society needs to recognize that all bodies are beautiful regardless of “beauty standards”.
Overall, the obesity gene does not exist. Epigenetics play a huge role in many environmental and mental circumstances along with social determinants and disparities. Society needs to begin looking at what can be changed in an environment and we need to begin advocating for what these communities need and how it can be useful for them to make these high obesity rates go down. Once again, epigenetics are reversible, and it is our job to make the switch happen.
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