Questão 79 - FUVEST (USP) 2007

  “Researchers and public-health officials have long

understood that to maintain a given weight, energy in

(calories consumed) must equal energy out (calories

expended). But then they learned

[5] that genes were important, too,

and that for some people this

formula was tilted in a direction

that led to weight gain. Since the

discovery of the first obesity gene

[10] in 1994, scientists have found

about 50 genes involved in

obesity. Some of them determine

how individuals lay down fat and

metabolize energy stores. Others

[15] regulate how much people want

to eat in the first place, how they know when they’ve had

enough and how likely they are to use up calories through

activities ranging from fidgeting to running marathons. People

who can get fat on very little fuel may be genetically

[20] programmed to survive in harsher environments. When the

human species got its start, it was an advantage to be

efficient. Today, when food is plentiful, it is a hazard.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/13/magazine/13obesity.html.

According to the text,