The genetics of relatively healthy obesity

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In general, obesity is linked with a large range of health problems-for most people, at least. But for a substantial minority of those who are overweight, obesity is accompanied by indications of decent health, with no signs of impending diabetes or cardiovascular disease. These cases have probably received unwarranted attention; who doesn't want to convince themselves that they're an exception to an unfortunate rule, after all?

While there are many other negative health consequences of obesity that aren't altered in these individuals, the phenomenon is real, and it's worth understanding.

To that end, a large international team of researchers has looked into whether some of these cases might be the product of genetic influences. And simply by using existing data, the team found 61 instances where a location in our genomes is associated with both elevated obesity and signs of good health, cardiovascular or otherwise.

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