![]() ![]() You don't see a lot of 23-inch waists these days." Exercise also limits body fat in the hip and butt area - where women typically store flab - which explains the slimmer hips. "When you build a lot of muscle as a teenager, your testosterone levels can get slightly higher, and this could contribute to a slightly wider, more boyish middle. "Women in their thirties and early forties today are the first generation to benefit from Title IX, and many of them have bodies that look different from those of their mothers, who exercised sparingly, if at all," notes exercise physiologist Cassandra Forsythe, Ph.D., R.D. They have wider middles and narrower hips, and more muscular legs and defined arms - the result of years spent playing sports.Ĭredit Title IX, legislature that was passed in 1972 giving girls the same athletic opportunities as boys. Women in their twenties and thirties who exercised as kids have less typically "feminine" body types than what was common amongst that same age-group 25 years ago. "We are living in an environment for which our genes just weren't designed," Cummings says.īut perhaps one of the biggest wild cards in determining body development is fitness. "A couple hundred years ago, not many people had ready access to a lot of food, so only those with an extremely high susceptibility to weight gain became overweight." Today, for a few bucks, even someone with skinny genes can buy enough food to supersize herself. One simple explanation, says Cummings, is the supply of calorie-rich food in our culture. If you end up more than 10 percent below your set point, your body will fight back. Researchers believe this is because each person has a baseline weight, a genetically influenced set point where the body naturally wants to be. Even disciplined dieters often hit a wall after losing the first few pounds or regain weight they've lost. Regrettably, these shape-determining genes can be stubborn. "Because this gene has been associated with addiction, we need to think about the psychology of weight gain too." North, Ph.D., an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "Considering how many factors are involved in obesity, it's interesting that research is increasingly pointing to the brain's involvement in its development," says Kari E. Scientists believe this gene, which is carried by about 20 percent of the human population, may trigger a compulsion to overeat - which could explain why obesity tends to run in families the same way certain body shapes do. Neurexin 3, one of the genes recently implicated in regulating waist circumference, is also involved in brain function and has been linked to addictive behaviors such as alcoholism. New research has also uncovered a gene that may affect how much you eat. ![]() You can be unlucky and get the worst possible combination from both parents, or be lucky and get the best," says Harvard medical professor C. "You inherit half of your genes from your mother and half from your father, so you're a blend. From a medical standpoint, this is worrisome because central abdominal fat is associated with several serious conditions, including type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease. So if your mother carries weight in her stomach too, it could increase your chances of being an apple. Some speculate this is because you also inherit genes from your father, and men typically store extra pounds in their guts. The other major finding: Apple-shaped bodies are more genetically linked than pear-shaped or skinny ones. A study that appeared in the International Journal of Obesity found that while you need physical activity in order to build muscle, people who have "muscular" genes require far less exercise than others to look fit. The ease with which you develop muscle mass, for example, is a highly inherited trait. Some aspects of shape and size, it turns out, are more closely tied to genes than others. But new research is uncovering a more nuanced view. In the 1990s, studies done on identical twins indicated that genes pretty much determined adult shape and size. and looked at what control you can exert over them. ![]() Women's Health dissected the variety of factors that count. See, she grew up in a world where women never sweat - and never passed up a slice of pie - while you grew up with soccer and diet-meal delivery services, and experts say this distinction can make all the difference. So even if you're a dead ringer for your mother in old family photos, it doesn't mean you'll enter middle age with the same body. Studies suggest that while your genes may determine up to 80 percent of your weight and body shape, environment and personal choice still play a significant role. ![]() Peeking into your future isn't as simple as taking a look at your mom. ![]()
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