Role of genetics in childhood obesity Research Paper

Role of genetics in childhood obesity - Research Paper Example This essay "Role of genetics in childhood obesity" outlines if the children of obese parents are susceptible to obesity. Even in old times, when the science of genetics did not exist, it was a common knowledge that children inherited many things from their parents, families and ancestors like the color of their hair, the color of the eyes, height, physique and many other things. In the light of this common observation, it would not be wrong to conclude that like the color of their eyes, color of their hair, height, children also inherit a strain for obesity from their parents and families. The more recent scientific studies in the field of genetics have further established that like many other health problems and attributes, obesity in children could also be attributed to a genetic or in other words hereditary link (Smith 1). A recent scientific research which happened to be based on a close collaboration between many related studies has found out that obesity also tends to have a ge netic component. Till a few decades ago, it was strongly believed that people or families who had faulty lifestyles and unhealthy dietary preferences were more likely to get obese. However, this study and many other such studies are forcefully pointing towards the fact that childhood obesity may not be the result of defective lifestyles, but rather a defective gene or genes. Even if people with faulty lifestyles are more prone to obesity, it may that a particular gene in their genetic makeup may be pushing them to stick to unhealthy diet and lifestyles.