Genes Might Help Drive Overeating

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The bottom line: "A combination of [having] this genotype with being very motivated to consume food or with being obese seems to make people more prone to overeat," Temple said.

The study results do not imply that your genes doom you to obesity, however. "People who had the genotype were heavier, but there were certainly people who had the genotype who were not obese," Temple stressed.

While other research has turned up similar findings, Temple said her team looked at behaviors associated with the genotype. "Others have found that differences in the density of dopamine are associated with obesity," she noted.

In their future work, the team will use brain scans to reveal more about the relationship between the genotype and the drive toward eating.

Eventually, Temple said, the dopamine system may become a target for weight-loss therapies. For instance, drugs that affect the dopamine system, such as drugs now used for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), might help with weight-loss efforts, she theorized.

Another expert, Dr. Samuel Klein, director of the Center for Human Nutrition at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, said the study "addresses an important and relatively overlooked area in obesity -- the contribution of reward addiction in the regulation of food intake."

Dr. Julio Licinio, professor and chairman of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, agreed. "This really is like another piece of the puzzle, showing there is a genetic component and that those with this genotype are likely to have different weights because of the food reinforcement."

Licinio published similar research last year, in which he found that people with a particular genotype for a receptor for the brain chemical serotonin were more likely to eat red meat than those who lacked it.

More information

To learn more about nutrition, visit the American Dietetic Associaton.