Socioeconomics Plays Role in Obesity

HealthDay, October, 2003

A child's socioeconomic status plays a direct role in whether his genetic susceptibility to obesity is expressed or controlled, says a Medical College of Georgia study.

Researchers studied the genotypes of almost 500 black and white American children, aged 5 to 25, and found those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds were more likely to display the negative effects of genes that are known to be involved in causing obesity.

The findings were to be presented this week at the American Physiological Society conference in Augusta, Ga.

"Some gene effects were dependent on socioeconomic status. If you are a carrier of the 'bad gene,' so to say, and you are also in a lower socioeconomic class, then you will ...