Teens Can Outrun 'Fatso Gene'

Hour of excercise a day keeps the extra pounds away
By Mary Papenfuss,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 6, 2010 5:31 AM CDT
Teens Can Outrun 'Fatso Gene'
Many teens are saddled with a gene variant that packs on the pounds, but they can beat it with exercise.   (Getty Images)

A "fatso" gene can pack the pounds on teens, but they can beat it with an hour of exercise a day, scientists have discovered in a new study. "Get active" playing sports, biking, swimming, dancing, the lead researcher urges teens. Teens in the study saddled with the troublesome FTO gene variant weighed the same as the control group—as long as exercised. "The message is clear," said a researcher in a similar study of adults (who need to exercise far more to get the same effect). "Genes are not destiny."
(More weight stories.)

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