Clinical Evidence That An Environmental Pollutant Can Contribute To Obesity Through Prenatal Exposure

In the world of scientific evidence, clinical evidence is the pimple on proof's ass - as demonstrated by these pinhead researchers.

Overall, 17% of children in the United States are obese, and in inner-city neighborhoods, the prevalence is as high as 25%. While poor diets and physical inactivity are the main culprits, there is new evidence that air pollution can play a role.

A study by Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health finds that pregnant women in New York City exposed to higher concentrations of chemicals called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAH, were more than twice as likely to have children who were obese by age 7 compared with women with lower levels of exposure. PAH, a common urban pollutant, are released into the air from the burning of coal, diesel, oil and gas, or other organic substances such as tobacco.

Results are published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

"Obesity is a complex disease with multiple risk factors. It isn't just the result of individual choices like diet and exercise," says the study's lead author Andrew G. Rundle, Dr. P.H., a professor of epidemiology at Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health. "For many people who don't have the resources to buy healthy food or don't have the time to exercise, prenatal exposure to air pollution may tip the scales, making them even more susceptible to obesity."

Could not be more wrong.

Too fat is caused by overconsumption of Calories relative to the number of Calories burned.

There is no other cause.

There is no complexity to the matter except for pinheads with lentil-sized brains such as this Rundle guy.