一项新的研究显示，基因比不良饮食习惯更能导致儿童过度肥胖。科研人员调查了5000对8岁到11岁的双胞胎，发现儿童腰围和体重指数有77%是由他们的基因造成的。
出生时带有所谓肥胖基因的孩子并非注定要肥胖，但是科研人员说，这些孩子必须付出额外的努力使体重保持在健康水准。研究负责人、伦敦大学学院的简.沃德尔说，“这项研究显示，把孩子体重过重的所有责任都推在父母身上是错误的”。
A new study shows genes are more likely to blame for obesity in children than poor eating habits. Scientists studied more than five thousand pairs of twins aged eight to eleven, and found the variation in a child’s waist and
body mass index was 77 percent attributable to their genes.
Children born with the so-called fat genes are not doomed to become obese, but the scientists said those children will have to work extra hard to keep their weight at a healthy level.
Research leader Jane Wardle of the University College London said –in her words– “this study shows that it is wrong to place all the blame for a child’s excessive weight gain on the parents.”