Some chemicals in the blood of the mother may contribute to child obesity

• Although the pesticide DDT is banned since 1977, its product still persists in our body because it has a lifetime of 20 years
• Babies of mothers with normal weight, levels of DDE which are higher, have twice the risk of having an accelerated growth during the first six months and have a high BMI at 14 months.

Barcelona, 21 September 2010- Babies whose mothers which have relatively high levels of chemicals such as DDE (a byproduct of the pesticide DDT) in blood, are more likely to experience accelerated growth during the first 6 months life as well as having a body mass index (BMI) higher at 14 months. That is, these children have a higher risk of overweight, as he concluded a study by the Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (Creal) in Barcelona.

This research, published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP), analyzed data collected between 2004 and 2006 in a sample of 518 women living in Sabadell (Barcelona) that form part of the INMA (Childhood and Environment) and they participate from the first month of pregnancy.

The principal author and epidemiologist CREAL, Michelle Mendez, stressed that "this analysis suggests for the first time that fetal exposure to DDE may promote rapid growth from the postnatal period. In fact, the study concludes that 388 babies of mothers with normal weight, levels of DDE which are higher, have twice the risk of having an accelerated growth during the first six months and have a high BMI at 14 months.

Obesity in adulthood
Children who had rapid growth during the first months have 5 times more likely to be overweight at 14 months, defined as a BMI greater than 85th percentile.

In addition, two studies have shown an association between prenatal exposure to DDE and obesity in adult life and one another in children older than those of the study.

Other research has shown that children who grow too fast have higher levels of body fat. "More than 40 studies have associated the rapid increase in weight in the first months of life with obesity and metabolic disorders in later ages," points out Dr. Mendez.

Chemical compound in the diet
The team also investigated the relationship with other organochlorine compounds (pesticides and industrial wastes that are persistent), including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), but found no association with weight gain early. The team is still studying the children, now have four years.

"Most of exposure to organochlorine compounds are believed to come from the diet," says CREAL researcher. Foods including meat, fish, dairy products, fruits and vegetables are potential sources of exposure to DDE and other similar compounds. "These chemicals remain in the atmosphere for about 20 years since they are highly resistant to degradation," he adds.

Note that the DDE arises from the metabolism of the pesticide DDT, which use was banned in Spain in 1977. Recent investigations have defined the DDE as endocrine disrupter (chemical outside the body are capable of altering the hormonal balance of the body) and, therefore, have related to obesity. In this case, this is one of the first CREAL which shows the influence of a synthetic substance (in this case the DDE) in obese children.

Although people can not avoid contact with DDT, Dr. Mendez pointed out that "our intention is to have increasing understanding of factors that are associated with obesity, especially in children and adolescents, to see what we can do to identify individuals at risk and prevent the onset of obesity. "

Photo: Pablo Porlan