It’s not my fault I’m fat, it's the genes – Blaise Tapp

If we are not starving ourselves, the chances are that somebody at home or at work is boring us witless with endless tales of their daily calorie intake and how a kale and spinach smoothie is not that dissimilar to cheesecake.

We don’t have long to wait long before the optimism and purpose of the the now not-so-new year dies off completely and the near pristine running shoes are consigned to the cupboard under the stairs for another 11 months.

Words like ‘lazy’ and ‘bone idle’ are thrown around at people who struggle with their weight but, as the famous verse doesn’t go, sticks and stones will break my bones but sausages won’t hurt me.

Besides, folk like me who have to lay on the bed to put their jeans on, now have science on their side as there is new evidence there really is such a thing as a ‘skinny gene’.

This revelation has been seen as vindication for armchair experts who have argued for years that the weight they gain isn’t their fault.

The study involved researchers looking at the lifestyles of thousands of people and the conclusion is many skinny people stay thin due to their genetic makeup.

It seems the majority of us have far less control over our weight and we shouldn’t rush to make a judgement as to why somebody might have a rear end that can be seen from space. It is, quite literally, in our genes.

Of course, the argument doesn’t end there as the very clever people who conducted this exhaustive study are not saying that obesity is fine and we can all eat Double Deckers and pasties before we start work in the morning.

What they are saying is what we thought we knew about weight gain wasn’t necessarily the full story and that people who have long protested about how they cannot shift those extra pounds, no matter how they try, might well have a point.

It seems that science is doing a grand job of trying to convince society it needs to be a little less judgemental, although I won’t be able to give up on the diets just yet.