A new study suggests poor diet and lack of exercise might not be the only factors contributing to the obesity epidemic; the environment may also play a role. The environmental culprit, according to the study published in the journal PLOS ONE, in June 2013 may be bisphenol-a, a chemical commonly found in plastic and cans.
In a study with 1,326 school-age children in Shanghai, China researchers measured BPA levels in their urine. In girls ages 9 to 12, higher BPA urine levels were associated with a doubled risk of obesity. And as BPA urine levels increased, so did the girls’ obesity risk - measured using their weight in reference to weight distribution in the population.
But strikingly, only girls in this age group were affected, the research showed. Neither girls outside of the 9-12 age range nor boys experienced a risk of being overweight or obese, even with high levels of BPA in their urine.
“Girls seem to be more sensitive to environmental impact, and we don’t know exactly why,” said the lead study author.
Researchers do know BPA is an endocrine-disrupting chemical. It enters the body and mimics estrogen, the main hormone involved in female development. When BPA acts like estrogen in young girls, it may accelerate the onset of puberty and cause weight gain – thus earning its “endocrine-disrupting” title. The led author of the study also said, It is biologically plausible that BPA interferes with your normal hormone process - then your body gets screwed up. Another study conducted last year among children and adolescents in the United States showed a similar association between obesity and BPA.
BPA is a prime suspect on the growing list of what scientists call “environmental obesogens,” chemicals found in the environment that may cause obesity. And BPA is nearly unavoidable in our everyday lives: it lines the inside of food cans and some plastic containers, entering the body through ingestion. According to the CDC, nearly everyone in the United States over age 6 has BPA traceable in their urine. BPA is associated with a variety of other health problems besides obesity. Past studies have tied BPA with low birth weight, asthma, and sexual dysfunction in men.
The Food and Drug Administration last year amended the food additive regulations to no longer allow BPA in the plastic used to make baby bottles and sippy cups.
