Democrats are more likely than Republicans or Independents to blame genetics for obesity – including their own.

More than 70 percent of American adults are overweight, with over a third in the obese category, but the public in general does not support a greater role for government in tackling this problem. In new research, Don Haider-Markel and Mark Joslyn look at whether or not Americans think that obesity is caused by biology or a result of individual choice. Although they find that 86 percent believe it is due to lifestyle habits, there is also a political component: 15 percent of Democrats favor genetics as the cause of obesity compared to 10 percent of Republicans. These attributions also have policy implications: those who felt that obesity is down to genetics were more likely to resist discriminatory hiring practices based on weight.