Overweight people are born without a set of 30 genes that are found in normal weighing individuals, a new study conducted by UK researchers recently revealed.

Prof. Phillipe Froguel lead author of the study elaborated in a new release, "The recent rise in obesity in the developed world has been attributed to an abundance of unhealthy food and too little exercise, but the way people respond to these environmental factors is often genetic. If we can identify these individuals through genetic testing, we can then offer them appropriate support and medical interventions, such as the option of weight-loss surgery, to improve their long-term health."

Researchers looked for the genes in obese teenagers and adults in the first part of study and found 31 obese people with almost identical deletions in one copy of their DNA. In the second part of the study, the genomes of 16,053 European people were studied and it was found that nineteen people in this group were missing the same set of genes, and all were morbidly obese. The people who were studied tend to gain weight with growing age.

Dr Sadaf Farooqi, from Cambridge University, who collaborated with this research said, "The combined effect of several variations of this type could explain much of the genetic risk for severe obesity. There is still a public health message about diet and exercise, but simply blaming people for their obesity is no longer appropriate".