Ascenta

Current statistics tell us that 50% of Canadians are overweight with 1 in every 6 being obese. Scientists and doctors continue to stand behind the theory that we simply eat too much and exercise too little. There is no refuting the adage of “calorie in - calorie out”, however, a deeper look into the epidemiology of obesity leaves a lot of unanswered questions. For instance, why did the number of overweight infants under 6 months of age increase steadily from 1950 to 2000; between 1980 and 2001, it rose 74%.

A new field of research has emerged with some alarming findings about how a class of chemicals – man made as well as natural – are poisoning our bodies and programming our genes to make us fatter. These chemicals, called obesogens, interfere with hormonal signaling in the body and give rise to genetic changes that affect the number and size of fat cells. Obesogen exposure during infancy and childhood could in fact irreversibly predetermine your fat fate as an adult. To make matters worse these chemicals have contaminated our environment and detectable levels exist in everyone. Obesogens are present in many types of plastics, pesticides, and even the coating on a cash register receipt, just to name a few.

This new field of research was recently explored by a fascinating episode of the television program The Nature of Things with David Suzuki. Do yourself and your child a favor by watching this episode and protect your body from toxic obesogens.