Tend to overeat? Blame your genes

When it comes to cookies, some children really can't help themselves, British researchers said yesterday.

In an experiment, researchers offered 131 four- to five-year-olds a plate of cookies after they had eaten a meal.

They found that the children who ate more cookies were more likely to have certain variations of the FTO gene, a gene linked to larger body size, suggesting that for some overeating is genetically programmed.