How Chemicals Help the World Put on Weight

With the world on pace to have more than half its population overweight or obese by 2035, it’s time to look beyond the traditional causes – overeating and under exercising – to understand why.

Poor diet and a lack of activity are important factors in causing us to gain weight, as are our genetics, but scientists are also learning that chemicals we encounter every day change how our bodies process food. Certain endocrine-disrupting chemicals can promote fat cell growth, slow metabolism, and make it easier to put lost weight back on. While not the sole cause of the obesity epidemic, there are growing signs these chemicals do make us more prone to weight problems  – and worsen things for people already struggling with them. As we’ve argued previously, the EPA isn’t doing enough to protect us from these disease-causing chemicals.

These chemicals, collectively called obesogens, exist all around us. They’re embedded in processed foods and their packaging, they coat our clothes and carpeting, fill the oceans, and even linger in dust particles that float in our homes. In the decades that these chemicals have become ubiquitous, so has the obesity problem. Rates have tripled in the last half century, hitting young people especially hard, and many other species of animals are getting fatter now too. It’s an area ripe for more research, but what we know already suggests that the greater our exposure, especially in critical stages of development, the greater the risk of a lifetime of weight management problems.