{"id":661,"date":"2012-09-30T09:00:56","date_gmt":"2012-09-30T16:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/safaraf.com\/?p=661"},"modified":"2012-09-29T08:02:35","modified_gmt":"2012-09-29T15:02:35","slug":"article-review-bpa-levels-and-obesity-link","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/safaraf.com\/?p=661","title":{"rendered":"Article Review: BPA levels and Obesity Link"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>In the New\u00a0York\u00a0Times\u00a0Tuesday, September 25th, 2012 edition of the Science section was an article written by Nicholas Bakalar\u00a0entitled “BPA Levels Tied to\u00a0Obesity in\u00a0Youth”\u00a0(find it here<\/a>).\u00a0 The article speak to the chemical Bisphenol A (BPA) which has already been highly publicized as a cautionary warning to consumers when purchasing food packaged in metal or plastic containers.<\/p>\n

What we know is that most of us have some trace of BPA in our system already, which can be found by taking a simple urine test.\u00a0 What is now being discussed is how these detections of BPA in our urine can be linked to children and their risk for obesity.<\/p>\n

In the study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the\u00a0evidence\u00a0demonstrated\u00a0that the rate of obesity in children ages 6 to 19 who tested for the highest level of \u00a0BPA\u00a0concentration in their urine was significantly higher than the other children with lower BPA readings.<\/p>\n

This study controlled for such variables as age, income and diet.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0However when children of black or Hispanic\u00a0backgrounds were tested separately\u00a0the findings were not as evident. The reasons are unknown.<\/p>\n

When I considered this data I thought about how the leading epidemic amongst Americans who die prematurely is obesity.\u00a0 Our children are amongst the most over weight in the world.\u00a0 My hope is that with evidence such as this we may look to address obesity from a broader perspective.<\/p>\n

Could banning BPA in food packaging be an easy step towards addressing obesity?\u00a0 Perhaps and what would be the cost to\u00a0us\u00a0when we have a nation that funds health care to provide lap band for addressing weight control but not to visit a registered dietitian.<\/p>\n

We need to consider the epidemic of obesity from a broader perspective and see in what ways we can take responsibility for our nations children and their health.\u00a0 This article points to this and asks us to consider obesity from the perspective of what and how we consume foods.\u00a0 Beyond governmental control, we as parents and members of a community can take our own steps towards ensuring we support our family’s health\u00a0with good choices made at the grocery store.<\/p>\n

When considering buying a packaged item, take time to read the labels for what is on the inside and outside of the containers.\u00a0 Ask yourself questions about what you are buying.\u00a0 Are there other\u00a0affordable options from which you can outsource your food?\u00a0\u00a0Is there perhaps a bulk section to your food store?\u00a0\u00a0Are there frozen options?<\/p>\n

If BPA is a factor you would like to consider when making food choices there are plenty of options.\u00a0 One company that I have found has gone above and beyond to make it clear to consumers their packaging does not contain BPA is Eden Foods (see here<\/a>).\u00a0 They have been BPA free since 1999.\u00a0 Another consideration is that you can take what you buy and transfer it to BPA free containers.\u00a0 Many plastic tupperware now sold have printed “BPA free” and of course there is always glass which is wonderful way to store foods in the fridge and freezer.<\/p>\n

Considering obesity with such considerations as BPA is a good step towards furthering the discussion of how to help create\u00a0a healthy community.\u00a0 As you do your research and seek out other media related to this topic, due share your thoughts on what you find with us.<\/p>\n

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In the New\u00a0York\u00a0Times\u00a0Tuesday, September 25th, 2012 edition of the Science section was an article written by Nicholas Bakalar\u00a0entitled “BPA Levels […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/safaraf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/safaraf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/safaraf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/safaraf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/safaraf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=661"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/safaraf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":670,"href":"https:\/\/safaraf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661\/revisions\/670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/safaraf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/safaraf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/safaraf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}