Why People are NOT ‘Programmed to be fat’ (Dr Peter Swinyard)

Dr Peter Swinyard was recently seen on This Morning on 07/08 stating that some people are ‘programmed to be fat’ and thus obesity should be treated on the NHS. Now, the latter is a more complicated matter that i will not discuss, however is it really the best thing to be telling the entirity of a nation from an authoritative position that there’s nothing that can be done about obesity? Really?

I thought such hard deterministic thinking was ruled out long ago, however clearly not.

YES THERE ARE GENES ASSOCIATED WITH OBESITY. One example, is a mutation within the FTO gene. However, we also have this think called an environment? There are genes for everything, quite obviously, and yes that may increase your susceptibility, but it doesn’t mean that gene will be expressed if the environment is controlled for. Aka, if a calorie deficit.

There is an extreme of what Dr Peter Swinyard is referring to, it’s called Prada-Willi syndrome. Caused due to the deletion of a paternal chromosome on chromosome 15, meaning individuals never reach satiety and therefore massively overeat. However for the general population, this is far from the case.

Both genetics and environment play a role in determining the phenotype of an individual, whether they are slim or fat. An individual may…