The Secret To Diet Success: Less Chemicals?

From that first spoonful of rice cereal at six months to packing a healthy lunch for school and serving a family dinner at night, trying to feed kids right is both a joy and a challenge of parenting. Once our kids are mobile and especially as they make their way through school, parents also need to make sure they have plenty of opportunity for physical activity, engaging in sports and active play.

If we succeed and our kids have a healthy diet and exercise, they won’t join the 17% of American kids that are now obese. Right? Well, maybe not. Research suggests that hidden toxics in everyday items like toys and shower curtains could be undermining our hard work to raise healthy kids.

The CDC website on obesity features a disturbing video showing how, state by state, our bodies have changed in the last 20 years. The map of the United States goes from completely blue in 1990—fewer than 20% obese—to almost completely yellow to red in 2008— 20% or more obese. Six states are bright red, with more than 30% of the population obese, and only Colorado made it to 2008 with less than 20%.

It’s hard not to see a trend there. Unfortunately, with this trend have come skyrocketing rates of diabetes and other related health problems. To solve the obesity problem, public health professionals have focused on changing what appeared to be the clear causes: poor diets and lack of physical activity.

But what if it’s not as simple as calories in, calories out? Could our efforts to beat the obesity epidemic fail because we’re not addressing some cause more mysterious than poor diet and inactivity? Over the last several years, some important pieces of evidence have appeared that link chemical exposures to obesity and related problems such as diabetes.

Exhibit A: Phthalates

Phthalates, the plasticizers found in PVC/products as well as in many cosmetics, are most famous for their effects on boys’ reproductive development. But a 2007 study found that U.S. men with more exposure to certain phthalates had higher body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, and insulin resistance—all measures of obesity and metabolic syndrome.

Exhibit B: Bisphenol A (BPA)

In some laboratory studies, young animals exposed to BPA gained weight even though they ate no more than unexposed animals. In other studies, BPA actually triggered cells to become fat cells, and suppressed hormones that protect from insulin resistance.

In 2009, Bruce Blumberg and colleagues gave these chemicals a new name: obesogens. They defined obesogens as chemicals that inappropriately promote the accumulation of fat and fat cells. It turns out that toxic chemicals in consumer products aren’t the first obesogens—that honor actually goes to certain pharmaceuticals known to promote weight gain. We know how these work, so that has provided clues for researchers trying to figure out how unintentional chemical exposures can cause weight gain.

Michelle Obama has made combating overweight and obesity, especially in children, central to the administration’s goals with her Let’s Move campaign. The campaign focuses on healthy eating and physical activity. The task force it generated, however, highlighted exposure to toxic chemicals as a potential contributor to childhood obesity. While the task force report recommends additional research on the issue, it stops short of suggesting rigorous testing and screening out of chemicals that may cause obesity.

Washington state has led the nation on phasing out persistent toxic chemicals and addressing toxic toys and baby bottles. Now, we have the opportunity to lead again by phasing out chemicals that can cause obesity along with other hormone-disrupting chemicals and those that cause cancer, infertility, and learning problems. Thanks to 2008’s Children’s Safe Products Act, Washington will soon be collecting information on what toxic chemicals are in children’s products.

Some may argue that information should sit on a shelf. We see a better use for it—agencies should have the capacity to act quickly on that information to get toxics out of our kids’ toys, clothes, and mattresses and protect their health. The obesity epidemic is perhaps just one symptom of a systemic problem that has allowed toxic chemicals to become part of our everyday lives. We can eat healthy and exercise, but we need our government to take action on toxics so they don’t thwart our hard work. Governor Gregoire has a long, strong record of fighting for public health: support for new legislation to get toxics out of our children’s lives would make a valuable addition to that record.

Interested in learning more about how chemicals may affect our weight? Check out our new fact sheet, developed with the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families campaign.

Image courtesy Flickr user timsamoff.