Exercise Helps the Genetically Fat Stay Thin

The large question: Are people fat because they don’t move around enough, or are they fat because their genes tell them to be fat–came a few inches closer to resolution recently, when University of Maryland researchers determined that even those who are genetically predisposed to obesity can stay thin with sufficient calorie burn. Web MD reports that the scientists studied DNA samples of 704 healthy Amish adults, then divided the group into people with high activity levels and low
activity levels. The highly active group burned about 900 more calories
per day than the lower activity group. That equals about three to four
hours of moderately intensive physical activity, such as brisk walking, house cleaning, or gardening, according to the researchers. Web MD reports that the
study showed, that even though people with certain variations
of the FTO gene were more likely to be overweight, being genetically predisposed to obesity "had no
effect on those with above average physical activity scores."
Read more in Web MD.