Fuvest 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 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 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 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 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.”

(Fonte: NYTIMES)

In the text, the central idea is that

a) obesity should be genetically treated.

b) fat people may use different formulae to lose weight.

c) fat regulates our feeling of satiety.

d) genes contribute to obesity.

e) researchers are discussing the consequences of obesity.