One can no longer blame the genes for his or hers weight problem. The people who have a genetic mutation called the fat mass and obesity associated (FTO) gene can fight their problem by exercising as it was proved by the University of Maryland researchers. The study appeared in the Sep. 8, 2008 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

A study carried out in the US Amish community found that an active lifestyle appeared to be the answer to an appealing silhouette. They looked at 704 Amish people due to their ancestry awareness that allows a through study of any genetic predispositions. Apparently some people carry a variant of the FTO gene and tend to accumulate fat becoming overweight or obese.

British scientists also reported last year that more than half of all people of European descent have one or two copies of a variation of the FTO gene.

"Having multiple copies of FTO gene variants had no effect on body weight for people who were the most physically active, regardless of whether they were men or women. But in less active people, the association between the gene and increased body mass index was significant," says Evadnie Rampersaud, Ph.D., the lead author and a former postdoctoral fellow at the University of Maryland School of Medicine who is now at the University of Miami Institute for Human Genomics.

Researchers measured the amount of physical activity participants carried out with a device called an accelerometer and it turned out that the people who are more active use 900 more calories per day.