Obese Babies: How BPA and Other Chemicals Are Linked To Weight Gain

In this week’s Newsweek Magazine there is a fascinating article on how BPA (bisphenol-A) and other chemicals found in plastics can actually alter the way a body metabolizes fat. Scientists have found a disturbing link between chemicals found in plastics and unprecedented weight gain in babies, of all things!

Obese babies? Babies are supposed to be fat, right? I mean, what about all those delicious fat rolls? And cheeks – don’t get me started on baby cheeks!

A vague definition of obesity not withstanding, Newsweek reported that since 1980, obesity in 6 month-olds has risen 73%. Like the baby above – he’s 41 pounds at 8 months…now that’s something to raise the eyebrows. And, let’s face it, babies aren’t known for their exercise regimens and they typically don’t guzzle soft drinks, so blaming “lifestyle” habits on the new wave of obese babies just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.

Enter plastics. The use of plastics over the last few decades has been on the rise as well. We all have heard that BPA has adverse heath effects. But now, researches have learned that BPA, as well as other chemicals used in the manufacture of hard plastics, can actually cause cells that were otherwise not fat cells to become fat cells. It also can change the metabolic rate, so that the body doesn’t efficiently burn calories.

The Newsweek article backs up this claim with lots of scientific experiments that were conducted on mice – fascinating stuff. Also, some real-life situations proved the link to be true in both Spain and Belgium where toddlers who were exposed to certain chemicals as fetuses ran a greater risk of being overweight.

These scientists are well on their way to debunking the theory that weight gain is caused solely by eating more calories than you burn. Imagine the implications of that?!?

photo credit: Newsweek