Drinking from plastic water bottles, during pregnancy could increase the risk of having an obese baby, says a new study by The Endocrine Society based in Washington DC.
Findings of the study show that the chemical bisphenol A (BPA), found in food containers, is a hormone disruptor that increases the risk of obesity in the unborn child.
BPA is found in polycarbonate plastic water bottles and can linings. It can interfere with the endocrine system, which comprises of glands that produce several hormones, by mimicking the female sex hormone estrogen.
A child exposed to BPA becomes less sensitive to the hunger- controlling hormone leptin. Leptin aids in suppressing appetite when the body does not need energy, by sending signals to the brain.
It has been reported that nearly 90 percent of the people in population studies had detectable levels of BPA, along with compounds produced by its metabolism.
The researchers conducted a study on pregnant mice, which were fed BPA through food. Levels of BPA exposure were lower than the levels considered safe by the US Food and Drug Administration and Health, Canada. The researchers also gave leptin injections to their newborns across varying intervals.
Another group of pregnant mice were not given any chemical exposure or were exposed to an estrogen chemical called diethylstilbestrol (DES).
The team then compared all the offsprings. They analyzed the brain tissue and blood to determine the reaction to the hormone.
Mice exposed to BPA showed a surge of leptin two days later than those which were not exposed to the chemical. They also noted that the mice exposed to DES never showed such a response.
“Our findings show that bisphenol A can promote obesity in mice by altering the hypothalamic circuits in the brain that regulate feeding behavior and energy balance,” said senior author Dr. Alfonso Abizaid, at of the Department of Neuroscience at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada.
“This study improves our understanding of how BPA can disrupt the endocrine system in a manner that raises the risk of obesity in animals,” he said. “Since BPA has also been linked to obesity in humans, people need to be aware that environmental factors can lead to increased susceptibility to obesity and cardio-metabolic disorders.”
