People with higher genetic risk of obesity need to exercise more, study says

BOSTON – A new study finds people who are at genetically higher risk of obesity need to workout harder than those at lower risk to maintain a healthy weight.

A team at Vanderbilt University looked at activity, health, and genetic data on more than 3,000 middle-aged adults without obesity who walked an average of about 8,300 steps per day. They found that people with a higher genetic risk for obesity would need to walk an additional 2,000 or so steps a day than those at average risk to have a similar chance of developing obesity.

But the good news is, there is something you can do to counter the effect your genes have on your weight. That is, be more active.

Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.