Don't you just hate it when a size zero person walks in the restaurant, orders the same amount of food as two-fully grown man can have, and nonchalantly eats it up without any fear of gaining any of those unwanted pounds?

More than just having a hyperfast metabolism, this could actually be because of the fact that the size-zero person, who happens to be the source of insecurity of a lot of other people, is blessed with good genes. Literally. Researchers from the Peninsula Medical School and Oxford University have found the "fat gene", or that clear link between the genes and obesity.

Those who had two copies of the "fat" version of a gene actually have 70% more risk of being obese, and would weigh 3kg (6.5 lb) more than the size-zero person, who does not have any "fat gene" at all. 3kg. That doesn't seem too bad. However, Professor Andrew Hattersly of the Peninsula Medical School said that "it is still enough to make a big change in the risks of obesity."

Professor Hattersly further explains that the presence of the "fat gene" could actually explain how come two people may engage in the same lifestyle or diet, doing the same amount of exercise, and still, one of them would be struggling more to lose weight than the other.

"The typical message has been that if you are overweight it is due to sloth and gluttony and it is your fault. This work is suggesting that there is also a genetic component."

What makes this finding significant is that it has presented a clear evidence "for the first obesity susceptibility gene," as lauded by Dr. Sadaf Farooqi of the University of Cambridge's Department of Clinical Biochemistry in UK. With this, the researchers just might have opened the gate for a better understanding at the causes and probable preventive measures, as well as treatment, for obesity.

Still, let us not sit back, nod our heads, and just resign to the fact that if the "fat gene" is in your genes, there's nothing you can do about your weight anymore.