If I told you that material found in water bottles and food packages contributed to childhood obesity would you believe me?  Recently scientists have performed some experiments suggesting that a chemical  called bisphenol A, or BPA, is related to health problems and obesity in children and adults. For the experiment, they measured BPA in urine and found that the children with higher levels of the BPA were more likely to be obese than children with lower or no amounts of BPA. This July the Food and Drug Administration banned products with BPA in it, such as some water bottles, sippy cups, and aluminum soup cans.   The FDA actually didn’t ban the use of the chemicals in metal-can liners and other plastics, saying that there wasn’t much proof that the exposure to lower levels of BPA was unsafe.

Normally I would find it hard to believe that plain old water bottles and packages could contribute to America’s obesity problem. But after learning that kids who have higher percentages of BPA are more obese, I thought again. I think that it’s weird that every day reusable water bottles can make you more obese. Even though they are going to ban BPA, many people still will use old products and hand me downs that will affect them. If you need more information about the link between BPA and obesity, check out BPA and Obesity

~Lily Kurtz