Obesity and Diabetes: The Thrifty Gene

"Keep obesity silent.
Does it always make you laugh?
What kills 55,000 people a year in France.
It is not a fault, nor an inevitability.
Even less a joke."
French Campaign for Obesity

This French campaign gives a slightly different perspective than what we have seen over the past month from US and UK press machinations. Obesity, obesity, obesity...this is the new moral outrage. It is the "just say no" campaign for the 21st century. But instead of cocaine and herione, we're talking about fries and shakes. This organization, the CNAO (Collectif National Des Associations D'obeses), has decided to represent the obese and make a call for tolerance and education.

I found this image and the article in the New York Times early this morning. Inevitably, we are going to see news obesity reports from all over the world now that the NYTimes has declared it an epidemic in the City. And because the City is a micro-cosm of the world-at-large, reporters will be striking out to find news of obesity elsewhere.

What I found interesting about this article is that the lead into the story describes a child, Hakim, with a too high BMI. Hakim is an Arabic name. The New York Times reports on the diabetes epidemic interviewed many people, mostly Hispanic and African American people, struggling to manage diabetes. So, for the most part, Hispanic, African, Arabic, and Asian groups seem to be a large part of this focus.

Which leads me into one very critical scientific fact that NO ONE is discussing. (The New York Times dedicated three sentences to this fact. Appalling in that most of the above groups were their primary source. So in about 7 articles, spanning about 40 pages, this subject was given hardly a mention. Good journalism?)

Some people might dumb it down and call it a fat gene, but it fact there is a reason why all of these people are more susceptible to putting on weight.

CDC website on Diabetes

Many researchers think that some African Americans, Hispanic/Latino Americans, American Indians, Asian Americans, and Pacific Islander Americans inherited a "thrifty gene" which helped their ancestors store food energy better during times when food was plentiful, to survive during times when food was scarce. Now that “feast or famine” situations rarely occur for most people in the United States, the gene which was once helpful may now put these groups at a higher risk for type 2 diabetes.

This is Genomics - the study and function of our genes. Obviously this "thrifty gene" is not the only cause or factor. Depression and other factors do play a part here. But why oh why are governments constantly pointing to psychosocial issues as the primary cause? Why aren't we using more science - specifically as stated here, genetic factors, and of course, economic barriers. Is this all a part of the nanny state?