Obesity is a growing problem all over the world. According to the WHO, there are currently more than one billion adults overweight and at least three hundred million of them are clinically obese. According to the US Surgeon General, in the United States the number of 
The article goes on to list household items that include obesogen – the chemical compound, foreign to the body that can disrupt normal development or homeostasis inducing obesity. Almost everything listed was something needed for everyday living: carpets, mattresses, shoes, purses, detergents, furniture, toothbrushes, toothpaste, water from the shower that comes through PVC pipes, soaps, shampoos, and the list goes on. It was ridiculous “these chemicals are in everything”. We can’t possibly get rid of everything that has obesogen because then we’d be getting rid of virtually everything. The chemical is linked to such a growing problem in America, but how can we solve this problem? The article says “this fall, scientists from NIH, the Food and Drug Administration, the Environment Protection Agency, and academia will discuss obesogens at the largest-ever government-sponsored meeting on the topic”. Hopefully then we will be able to figure out how to stop the impending obesity on our children and ourselves… if it hasn’t already happened.
Industrialization may be the cause of this problem because I wouldn’t say that plastics are nature. In the meantime I’m going to try to cut back on the use of things I don’t necessarily need. Maybe that will hinder the growing problem that industrialization has caused for us.
12 comments:
Mailyng, Thanks for your interesting post. I've been aware of the estrogen-mimicking effects of plastics for awhile but didn't realize scientists suspect the link to obesity. It will be interesting to see if scientific studies actually bear this out. Is there any counter-evidence, or arguments against this hypothesis? Another suspected danger of environmental estrogens is their link to certain kinds of cancers, especially breast cancer and prostate cancer--which are often fueled by estrogens.
The fact that so many everyday products contain the chemical obesogen is frightening because it means that solving the current obesity epidemic will require more than just having people cut calories, eat healthier, and exercise. This means that it will also require the regulation of current products containing obesogen, which may prove a daunting task but one that must be taken on if we want our future children to be healthy. We also must think about our current generation of children though. Is there any hope for those who have already been subjected to obesogen? Or will they always have trouble managing their weights? There has to be a solution for them too. Right?
I'm always a bit skeptical about theories that posit ONE answer to the epidemic of obesity. I'll be curious to see what further research bears out on the plastics front. Scientists also think the food most Americans eat has a lot to do with obesity. Our food supply has changed radically in the past 50 years, with high fructose corn syrup added to countless products, and factory farmed meats and dairy products adulterated with hormones. Fast food, packaged food, sodas, etc., are cheaper than "real" food because the commodity crops they're made from are subsidized. So people who eat them are filling up on sugars and unhealthy fats. People in other industrialized countries are also surrounded by plastic, but the US leads the way--by a long shot--in obesity (and its partner, diabetes). I'm betting it's a complex problem with multiple causes and solutions.
When I read the article about this I was also thinking about my future children! I don't want them to worry about being obese. I sure hope this doesn't have a significant impact on the the obesity epidemic in America.
It is unbelievable to think that every day thinks almost all of us use can cause us to be obese. We hear that several random things can possibly cause cancer but somehow that seems to make more sense than obesity. Most of us think of obesity just as genetics or people who are just to lazy and get in an endless cycle of eating too much and not exercising. I really am glad you found this article and chose to share it with us, it's an incredably interesting topic.
Mailyng,
After reading your blog, I was somewhat shocked to find that majority of the things that you listed were things that I use on a daily basis, and were things that could potentially contribute to obesity. Will we ever be able to find a solution to fix this solution if all the things that are essential to us are contaminated with this obesogen? It definitely makes me wonder what other chemicals are in the things that I use everyday. Could they be harmful to my health? This blog makes you wonder if what exactly is in everything that you use. Obesity is an issue that is becoming even more prevalent in today's society especially with all the fast food chains readily available to people. With obesogen contributing to Americans already unhealthy lifestyle, I think that America's clinically obese rate could go up.
Mailyng, this post is very interesting.
It is scary to think that there are cancer causing agents in plastics that we are surrounded with on a daily basis. To think that the toys we are giving our infants to play with are filled with obesity, cancer causing carcinogens in them is absolutely terrifying. How are we setting up our children for the future if some of the first things we give them as babies are toys which have chemicals in them that are already setting them up for obesity and cancer? This is a scary thought, and there is so much that needs to be done before change will come because people use plastic for almost everything! Scary.
Wow I had no idea plastic could make America more Obesed. Thank you for sharing and pointing out this fact for us. However like Dr. Seeley asked, is there a counter argument to this case? Is this fact 100% proven? If it is... Wow... that is all I have to say. I would of never guessed though, so nice find and post Mailying!
This is an extremely interesting post and I'm glad someone decided to write on this ever-growing epidemic. Nowadays, most people try to watch what they eat and are fairly aware that mass produced food and agribusiness have almost entirely negative health effects, but it's crazy to think that things we don't even put in our bodies could be the source of America's obesity problem. I may come off as a little pessimistic in class and on the blog, but honestly, it's because of findings such as this that discover we're essentially trapped by industrialization and consumerism. Certainly, there are things we can do and choices we can make to avoid the negative effects of chemicals like obesogen, but this is an incredibly recent study, image how many other awful things surround us everyday and we have no idea. It's pretty scary stuff, but I guess "all we can do is all we can do", and you just have to keep living and make the most informed choices possible. Thanks for the eye-opening post!
I hear everyone's fear about all this--and it is dismaying, especially when you really start looking in to the many toxins in our water, food, and environment in general. Rather than succumbing to that fear, however, we can choose to work toward a different world. And that doesn't necessarily mean simply a world devoid of plastic, but a world that works from a different set of values and priorities.
Wow. I am shocked to hear about this. I never knew that the things we use in our everyday lives can really do that much harm to our bodies. We cannot get rid of all of the things that make us obese, or else we would have nothing. I think this is very important because I don't want this affecting my children, or grandchildren, and I think that we really need to take this seriously, because this might be the other factor for obesity in children, other than bad eating habits. I also think that more people need to know about this.
While plastics may have several kinds of chemicals known to cause all sorts of bodily harm, I think the real reason for the obesity epidemic is our increasingly fast paced and high stress lifestyle. Though I can understand how plastics could make their way into the obesity issue. Most of the food we eat is processed and packaged in plastic. It is probable that the chemicals leech into the food, adding to the problem. Though I applaud the FDA for making an attempt to try and improve the situation at hand.
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