Weight Gain Myths

If you regain the kilos after every weight-loss plan, your genes may be sabotaging your efforts.

- Stephanie Osfield

Eating less (energy in) and exercising more (energy out) is the secret to a slimmer waistline. Or is it?

For years, health experts have considered this the ‘go-to’ formula for maintaining a healthy weight. But now its simplicity is being questioned. “The idea that all you need to do to lose weight and keep it off is to cut kilojoules and go to the gym regularly is not true for every person,” says Professor Joe Proietto, head of the Weight Control Clinic at Austin Health in Victoria.

“It’s one of numerous unhelpful myths that imply people are completely to blame for their weight gain. In fact, obesity is a disease affected by 100 genes that impact on weight. Up to 60 per cent of the population may be carrying some of these genes that predispose them to store fat and make it harder for them to lose it.”

UNHELPFUL WEIGHT MYTHS

That doesn’t mean that if you have obesity genes you are destined to gain weight, but it does mean your risk of weight gain and obesity may be higher. So if you are often battling the scales, or have spent years yo-yo dieting, separating the following myths from facts may help you maintain a healthier weight:

MYTH 1: Slim people eat less than overweight or obese people.

We all know people who can eat whatever they want and not put on a kilo. Science is now telling us why. “There is growing evidence that there is a powerful genetic susceptibility to becoming obese,” says Proietto.

In one series of experiments at Rockefeller University in New York, a random group of lean people ate excess kilojoules for a period of time. Though they all over-ate by the same amount, they surprisingly showed a variety of weight gains – some participants put on a lot of weight while others didn’t.