Pollution in the womb can make children fat, study
September 7, 2008 by Grace Ibay
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
A startling new research from the UK blames chemicals in the environment for the obesity epidemic in children.
Published in the current issue of the journal Acta Paediatrica, the study measured the levels of harmful chemicals or pollutants in the umbilical cords of some 400 children in Menorca, Spain. One of those chemicals is hexachlorobenzene (HCB), a pesticide that has been banned in the UK.
When the children were followed up six years later, those with the highest levels were twice as likely to be obese. Experiments in animals had already shown that pollutants can cause obesity (in animals) but this is the first study that showed the effects of pollutants inside the human womb.
See, that is totally why we need to get rid of chemicals in our homes, schools and the environment. The effects are felt from within the womb, when the fetus is so vulnerable and will absorb everything that mommy passes on to him. The ugly thing about chemical pollutants is that they remain in the environment long after they have been banned.
Reach the article at Independent Co.
