Don't Slate writers read each other?

Engber states that 80% of the variation in body weight can be explained by DNA, but this is completely false. What he is referring to is 80% of the variation among individuals living in the same environment.

As William Saletan correctly stated in his examination of this issue previously (linked at the bottom of Enger's article):

"What's genetic is the weight variation within a population, such as the kids in your neighborhood. What's environmental is the weight variation between populations: kids in your neighborhood today, compared with kids in your neighborhood 15 years ago."

The canard that genetics trump all other factors in explaining obesity is logically absurd given the skyrocketing obesity rates in the last fifty years. Does Enger truly believe that DNA has been altered on a mass scale within a few decades? No, the difference between the obesity rate today and fifty years ago has precisely ZERO to do with genetics, and is 100% due changes in the environment, presumably things like the easy availability of calorie-rich fast food, a more sedentary lifestyle and the other usual suspects.

So Wall-E is spot on. And Engber should go on a diet.