The Telegraph (London, U.K.), September 9, 2008

POLLUTION LINKED TO OBESITY, NEW STUDY FINDS

[Rachel's introduction: Dr. Pete Myers, chief scientist at the US- based Environmental Health Sciences, said: "This is very important. It is the first good study of the effects on the foetus. Its conclusions are not surprising, given what we know from the animal experiments, but it firmly links such chemicals to the biggest challenge facing public health today."]

By Chris Irvine

Pollution could determine whether a child is fat or not before they have even been born, a new study has found.

Exposure to a range of common chemicals before birth increases the chance of a baby to growing up overweight or obese, the research indicates.

The study by scientists at Barcelona's Municipal Institute of Medical Research is the first to link obesity with chemical contamination in the womb, where humans are most vulnerable.

A quarter of all British adults and a fifth of children suffer from obesity, with at least 300 million obese worldwide.

Published in the current issue of the journal Acta Paediatrica, the research measured levels of hexachlorobenzene (HCB) in the umbilical cords of 403 children born on the Spanish island of Menorca.

HCB is a pesticide banned internationally but which continues to remain in the environment and can be found in food.

Those with the highest levels of HCB were twice as likely to be obese when they reached the age of six and a half.

The report's authors are now calling for exposure to similar pesticides to be minimised, including bisphenol A (BPA), used in baby bottles and cans of food, and phthalates, found in cosmetics and shampoos.

Tests have shown BPA is found in 95 per cent of Americans, while 90 per cent have been found to be exposed to phthalates in the womb.

Dr Pete Myers, chief scientist at the US-based Environmental Health Sciences, said: "This is very important. It is the first good study of the effects on the foetus. Its conclusions are not surprising, given what we know from the animal experiments, but it firmly links such chemicals to the biggest challenge facing public health today."

The research comes after Conservative leader David Cameron said that obesity is purely a matter of "personal responsibility".

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