It is too genetic

Check out this new study, just published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, in which British researchers looked at more than 5,000 pairs of identical twins and determined that

genes account for about three-quarters of the differences in a child's waistline and weight.

Here's the quote of the day:

"Contrary to the widespread assumption that family environment is the key factor in determining weight gain, we found this was not the case," said Jane Wardle, director of Cancer Research UK's Health Behavior Centre, who led the study.

So what does this mean? It means that maybe we can stop obsessing over children's BMI and focus instead on their OH--their overall health. It means that families can go back to making sure their children are healthy without all the woohoohoo about them being fat. Most important, it means that maybe, just maybe, we can start ditching some of the blame and shame about fat and pay attention to what really matters.

As the Dressing Room Project folks like to say, Worry about the size of your heart, not the size of your body. Amen, sisters.

Here's a PDF of the entire study. Have fun with it.

The Dressing Room Project

Thanks to Beth Kanell for tuning me in to this fabulous project, which describes itself as "a girl-powered rebellion to free girls & women
from the bonds of media-imposed standards of beauty."

My favorite one of their quotes, distributed on postcards and buttons:

Worry about the size of your heart, not the size of your body.

It's a little bit of guerilla grrls action. Check it out.