Childhood Obesity

[RWebb]

BPA in Food Packaging Tied to Child Obesity: Study - US News and World Report

[BK911]

"...found in the lining of many aluminum cans and a variety of food packaging..."

Of course, its the cans and the packaging, not the soda and candy kids eat all day.

[vash]

am i imagining things? i see a trend with young parents in my area..they are really focusing on good eating habits, and nutritious food. all my buddies with young kids..the kids have never been to macdonalds.

100% of my friends, the kids are healthy, fit..and dont eat junk food.

is this the new trend? anyone seeing this?

[Christien]

I think it's much more common today. We're like that, to a large extent. I wouldn't say no junk food, no fast food (though I hate the stuff), but certainly moderation. Both are kids are very active, healthy and fit. Moreso than their parents But I do see lots of our friends doing similar - backyard vegetable gardens, organic foods, whole/non-processed foods. We buy as much organic as possible, grow what we can in our garden, and rarely if every buy processed foods. The old no-more-than-five-ingredients rule.

[porwolf]

Originally Posted by vash

am i imagining things? i see a trend with young parents in my area..they are really focusing on good eating habits, and nutritious food. all my buddies with young kids..the kids have never been to macdonalds.

100% of my friends, the kids are healthy, fit..and dont eat junk food.

is this the new trend? anyone seeing this?

Looks to me like an old trend. Before the 80's obesity in children was very rare. But then most families cooked their meals at home, and mostly from scratch. And, of course couch-type electronic entertainment was rare. TV existed but children ony watched it when they were finished with outdoor playing outdoors for hours.

[Hard-Deck]

We've taught our children to avoid fast-food/soda. They do and exercise, run; fitter than the young masses.

[oilcan]

BPA may be a problem with child obesity- but a much bigger problem are mothers. Went to a convenience store Sunday @9:00 P.M. and there were 2- 19/20 tr old mothers with 5 kids under 4 yrs +/-, checking-out in front of me with a myriad of crap food. I mean $40.00 worth of sugar. The only semi-healthy food were milk & fruit loops. There is the real problem. Paid for, by the way, with a card subsidised by the govt.

[Christien]

Originally Posted by porwolf

Looks to me like an old trend. Before the 80's obesity in children was very rare. But then most families cooked their meals at home, and mostly from scratch. And, of course couch-type electronic entertainment was rare. TV existed but children ony watched it when they were finished with outdoor playing outdoors for hours.

Really? It's my memory that the 80s were when processed foods really became abundant - TV dinners, fast food, shake and bake, boil-in-bag, frozen entries, packaged noodle dishes. I ate tons of that stuff whenever I could get away with it (which wasn't very often!).

[aigel]

35% of the boys and 30% of the girls in 5th grade at the local (upper middle class CA neighborhood) school are overweight according to the school heath checks.

I doubt it is the BPA. Have you seen the lines at the local IN-N-OUT?

G

[flipper35]

A sweetener is added to a lot of processed food nowdays that never used to be there. Corn Syrup is used in place of sugar because it is cheaper. Convenience has taken over for quality as well and neigborhoods are fenced/gated so kids don't get the chance to go play ball with other kids. Another thing, our neighbor was classified as obese when she was in high school even though she went to state in cross country and gymnastics (floor and uneven bars). Something is wrong there as well and I am sure that skews some of the studies.

[Rikao4]

this great news for the tubbies...
both old & young...
here we all thought is was you stuffing yourself & laying about..
but..
affliction/blameitonsomething.com to the rescue again..
it's not your fat lazy mom..
or gut+ beer sucking dad...
it's the plastic ...


Rika

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by BK911

"...found in the lining of many aluminum cans and a variety of food packaging..."

Of course, its the cans and the packaging, not the soda and candy kids eat all day.

don't misconstrue this scientific study - other factors (high sugar loads, etc.) also cause obesity, but this study nails BPA as a contributor to obesity in children, not just adults (previous studies)

BPA is used all over the place - soft plastics (water bottles) and most cash register receipts

[HardDrive]

BPA might be a factor, but I pretty sure that main cause is this: To much food, to little exercise.

Take away the kids ipad, turn off the tv, and throw their ass outside. Tell them to go get dirty, climb trees, build forts, etc. Its not rocket science.

[porwolf]

Originally Posted by HardDrive

BPA might be a factor, but I pretty sure that main cause is this: To much food, to little exercise.

Take away the kids ipad, turn off the tv, and throw their ass outside. Tell them to go get dirty, climb trees, build forts, etc. Its not rocket science.

The other problem is their obese parents that eat and snack and eat and snack. And eat and snack so much processed food. How can the kids live that down.

[URY914]

Anyone seen Honey Boo Boo's family?

[jyl]

I think the role of BPA itself, as distinguished from the food and drink contained in the BPA-lined container, is worth thinking about.

BPA is a hormone-like substance. In rodents:

"In 2007 studies indicating harm reported a variety of deleterious effects in rodent offspring exposed in the uterus: abnormal weight gain, insulin resistance, prostate cancer, and excessive mammary gland development."

That is at least some reason to investigate the substance's role in weight gain.

BPA is still used in food and drink packaging. We are still being exposed to it.

We have an interesting situation in this country. Industry can use a substance or chemical in food packaging, or other applications which exposes humans. There is no requirement to investigate the chemical's long-term health effects. As long as it is not rapidly toxic, it can be used. It is left to others, consumers or scientists or medical groups, to find out if the chemical does have long-term health effects, and then to prove it. Perhaps the company that chooses to use the chemical in the first place, to expose people to it in order to get some economic reward (lower cost, etc) should have the job of proving the chemical safe in the first place.

[aap1966]

Originally Posted by RWebb

FOOD in Food Packaging Tied to Child Obesity: Study - US News and World Report

.....fixed it.

[SeanPizzle]

correlation doesn't mean causation.

there is also a strong correlation between low income and obesity.

[aigel]

Processed food comes in packaging lined with BPA. If you cook from scratch, no BPA. So, is the BPA making you fat? I am sorry, but the tons of empty calories in processed foods are going to outweigh any effects BPA may have. The BPA effects may be there but will be completely in the noise.

G

[Jim Richards]