Studying identical twins is very important because they help scientists separate what has a genetic cause and what is caused by a person’s environment or their lifestyle. Since their genes are the same, generally speaking health differences between the two individuals in a set of identical twins can be traced to lifestyle or environmental factors.
Every now and then I’ll hear someone who is overweight say, “I can’t lose weight. My whole family is overweight. It’s genetic.” An interesting article in the International Journal of Obesity says that while that may be true for some people, it doesn’t appear to be an unavoidable fate. Exercise Trumps Heredity
