Experts find female body shape mostly in her genes

A WOMAN's shape is partly determined at birth by her "apple or pear" genes, Scottish researchers have shown.

A group of international scientists - including experts from the University of Edinburgh - identified 13 new gene regions containing DNA variations linked to body shape.

Many have a much stronger effect in women than in men, deciding whether they are more likely to store fat around the middle or bottom of their bodies.

Apple-shaped individuals with extra fat around their waists are known to have an increased risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

On the other hand, some experts believe a pear-shaped body with fat stored in the thighs and buttocks protects against diabetes and high blood pressure.

Researchers located the DNA variations after pooling data from international gene studies involving more than 100,000 people.

They identified 13 gene regions linked to waist and hip body fat distribution.

Seven of the genetic variations have a much bigger influence in women than in men, the scientists discovered.

Although the findings explain only about 1 per cent of the variation in waist-to-hip ratios, they point to specific biological mechanisms that govern where the body stores fat.

Genes that regulate levels of cholesterol, triglyceride blood fats, insulin and insulin resistance - the inability to respond properly to insulin - are thought to be involved.

Dr Cecilia Lindgren, from the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics at Oxford University, one of the scientists who carried out the research, said: "By finding genes that have an important role in influencing whether we are apple-shaped or pear-shaped, and the ways in which that differs between men and women, we hope to home in on the crucial underlying biological processes.

"Understanding biology through finding genes is just a first step in a long journey towards treatment, but it is a vital one. As efforts to tackle obesity through changes in lifestyle or by different treatment options have proved extremely challenging, the potential to alter patterns of fat distribution may offer an alternative for future drug discovery."

Another paper by the same Oxford team, working with colleagues from the Medical Research Council (MRC) in Cambridge, looked at genes connected to body mass index (BMI).This is a measurement commonly used to produce clinical definitions of being overweight or obese.

Adults with a BMI of 25 to 29.9 are said to be overweight, while obesity is defined by a score of 30 or more.

Dr Ruth Loos, from the MRC Epidemiology Unit in Cambridge, said: "These two studies are the beginning of new insights into to biology of obesity and body shape, which in turn may lead to more targeted approaches to obesity prevention and potentially to the development of new drugs."