Friday June 14, 2013 (foodconsumer.org) -- Exposure to bisphenol A, an endocrine disruptor, increases risk for childhood obesity, according to a new study in American Journal of Epidemiology.   Childhood obesity is known to be a risk factor for adulthood cardiovascular disease and other health conditions.

Ruchi Bhandari from School of Public Health, West Virginia University, Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center in Morgantown, WV analyzed data from children aged 6–18 years from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2003–2008) and found an association between BPA exposure and childhood obesity risk.

After adjustment for other factors including age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, serum cotnine, physical activity, childhood obesity was 155% more likely to be developed in children in the highest quartile of urinary BPA than those in the lowest quartile.

Among boys, the risk for childhood obesity was increased by 280% among those in the highest quartile of urinary BPA and among non-Hispanic white boys; the risk was increased by 487%.

BPA is a plasticizer that is used in water bottle and many other plastic food and beverage containers. *reporting by Jimmy Downs)