Medicine: Is Losing Weight a Losing Battle?

Studies find that obesity is not entirely the fault of the fat

For those who have struggled to lose weight or keep it off, research into the origins of obesity has begun to offer an absolution of sorts. Last week two studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that some fat people, rather than being slothful or gluttonous, have an inborn predisposition to gain weight. Reason: instead of burning off excess calories as others do, obese bodies are programmed to convert them into fat. Thus, while fat people may eat the same amount of food as thinner people do, they gain more weight. Moreover, their tendency to get fat is...

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