text: if your obesity is inherited, will diet/exercise work?   you inherit a tendency towards obesity, but only eating will make you obese. genes determine the number of fat cells we have, but it is the ages 8 - 12 where we really can put these beasts on the body. if children are fed a normal amount of food, healthy food, not allowed to sit all day in class and on computers, made to run and play, deprived of soft drinks and junk food, chances are the fat cells will never develope. therefore, we can "trick" the tendency. unfortunately, parents do not tend to their kids in this respect. it used to be, "a fat child is a healthy child." kids were made to "clean up their plates" whether they were full or not. too bad...today, obesety is epidemic because of inactivity and very bad diet. these kids will have a real battle their entire lives to control their weight, simply because they were allowed to put uncontrolled fat cells on their body at a critical time in developement. only cell removal will have a great effect on perminent weight controll after the damage is done...that removal (liposucion) is painful, dangerous, and very expensive....so silly when it could have been prevented in the first place.