We have a guest blogger, the newsletter Whole Health Insider, with the latest news on the link between the plastics chemical, BPA, and childhood obesity.
Did you know that 92% of us have BPA in our urine? Here's more. By now, most of us have heard of bisphenol-A, otherwise known as BPA. This common chemical compound found in hard plastics and the linings of food and drink cans has been under a great deal of scrutiny over the past decade due to its link to several serious health problems.
The list is quite extensive and alarming and includes erectile dysfunction1, cardiovascular disease and diabetes2, problems with brain function and memory3, breast cancer4, and asthma5.
And as if this chemical could not get any more dangerous, new research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that long-term exposure to BPA in children can greatly increase the risk of one of the biggest epidemics we're facing as a nation—obesity.6
It's no secret that children are particularly vulnerable to the effects of BPA. This is why the Food and Drug Administration recently banned its use in the production of plastic baby bottles and toddler sippy cups. But, even so, BPA exposure is nearly impossible to completely avoid. 92.6 percent of people ages six and over have detectable levels in their urine!7
In their study, researchers examined the link between body mass index and BPA concentrations in the urine of 2,838 children aged six to 19 years.
They divided the results into four groups (quartiles). After taking into account various factors such as race, age, caloric intake, and television watching, researchers discovered that the first quartile—the children with the lowest urinary output of BPA—also had the lowest incidence of obesity (10.3 percent). Those in the second and third quartiles had a 20.1 percent and 19 percent rate of obesity, respectively. The fourth quartile, which included the children with the highest levels of BPA in their urine, had a 22.3 percent rate of obesity.
To put this in perspective, the kids in the third quartile had twice the odds for obesity, and those in the fourth quartile had 2.6 times higher odds for obesity, as compared to the kids in the first quartile.
After further analysis, researchers found this association to be most significant in white children and adolescents.
Since BPA is so widespread, it's close to impossible to avoid it completely. It may have been banned in baby products, but it still exists in many other plastic products and the linings of canned goods and aluminum soda cans. Even so, there are a few steps you can take to limit your exposure to this harmful chemical8:
From the newsletter Whole Health Insider.