You Have a Friend Whose Parents Are Obese

question 172

Multiple Choice

You have a friend whose parents are obese. Since he graduated from university, he has devoted a significant amount of his efforts to doing well in his new job, leaving him with less time to exercise and prepare healthy meals. Consequently, he has gained weight. He is concerned that since he must have the FTO gene, he is doomed to be obese like his parents. What would you tell him?

• A) Genetics provides only a risk for overweight and obesity, not a definite destiny. If he eats nutritious meals and begins to exercise, he should lose the weight.
• B) Genetics is destiny. He might as well not worry about becoming obese since he is definitely going to be obese no matter what he does.
• C) His weight gain has nothing to do with his parents. There really is no genetic relationship.
• D) His parents must have eaten quite a bit of sweets and carbs before he was conceived and he now has the genes for obesity.

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Definitions:

Persuasive Message

A communication designed to convince or influence the audience to adopt a specific point of view or take a particular action.

Logic

The study of principles of reasoning, especially of the structure of propositions and the way in which they relate to each other to form valid arguments.

Hypothesis

Testable explanation of a natural phenomenon.

Natural Phenomenon

A naturally occurring event or occurrence that can be observed in the physical world, not caused by humans.