Heritable variation in food preferences and their contribution to obesity.

What an animal chooses to eat can either induce or retard the development of obesity; this review summarizes what is known about the genetic determinants of nutrient selection and its impact on obesity in humans and rodents. The selection of macronutrients in the diet appears to be, in part, heritable. Genes that mediate the consumption of sweet-tasting carbohydrate sources have been mapped and are being isolated and characterized. Excessive dietary fat intake is strongly tied to obesity, and several studies suggest that a preference for fat and the resulting obesity are partially genetically determined. Identifying genes involved in the excess consumption of dietary fat will be an important key to our understanding of the genetic disposition toward common dietary obesity.