Chemicals Blamed for Fat

The bottom line on obesity, people tell us, is that we get fat because we take in more calories than we burn. Pretty basic. Hard to argue with it. But yesterday I came across a story in the Washington Post Weekly (March 19-25) that says chemicals in our environment might have something to do with the nation's obesity epidemic.

This struck my attention since I read it not long after my previous post on questions about chemicals. The story, by Elizabeth Grossman, looks at various chemicals, often called "endocrine disprupters," that can have hormone-like effects. The chemicals, present in products such as plastics and fungicides, supposedly increase the number of fat cells, which in turn send out signals of hunger, which cause people to eat more.

The effects supposedly can be launched in utero, so a baby is born with the predilection for greater fat cell activity. Studies have been done only in animals such as mice so far. Interesting, but not proven.