How Packaged Food Makes Girls Hyper

[FarCenter]

More than 90 percent of Americans have detectable amounts of BPA in their urine; for most people, the major source of exposure is diet. BPA is a component of the resins that line cans of food and the plastics in some food packaging and drink containers, and the chemical leaches into the edible contents. Other sources of BPA exposure include water-supply pipes and some paper receipts.

Epidemiologist Joe M. Braun of Harvard University and his colleagues studied 240 women and their children in the Cincinnati area. The researchers collected urine samples from the mothers twice during pregnancy and within 24 hours of birth and from the children at ages one, two and three. BPA was detectable in 97 percent of the samples. They also surveyed parents about their kids’ behavior and executive functions—a term for the mental processes involved in self-control and emotional regulation.

The researchers found that the more BPA children were exposed to in the womb, the more anxious, depressed and hyperactive they were at three years old and the more difficulty they had con­trolling their emotions and inhibiting behaviors. The effects were most severe in girls. The team did not find a con­nection between the children’s behavior and their exposure to BPA after they were born, they report in the November 2011 issue of Pediatrics.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-packaged-food-makes-girls-hyper

[freshwest]

1. Um, I'd only heard of the effects on males. Interesting. Thanks.

[Fawke Em]

2. Interesting.

I have a daughter who fits this mold, but I didn't eat a lot of pre-packaged foods during my pregnancy. In fact, I'm not a pre-packaged food kind of gal. I had gestational diabetes, too, so my food consumption was very monitored.

I'll have to do more research on this. I may have been exposed to this from something else.

[FarCenter]

3. Canned beverages?

Just as in packaged food it is used inside aluminum cans.

[Fawke Em]

4. No - I rarely drink anything but milk and water.

And coffee (but not much of that when I was pregnant).

The article says diet is the "main source," so I'm wondering what other sources there might be. I do happen to live in Allergy Capital of the Country because Knoxville, TN is a bowl nestled in between the Cumberland Plateau and the Smoky Mountains, so pollution and allergens tend to hang around.

I could have breathed it in or it COULD be, from reading the article, the fact that I had to take progesterone the first trimester to keep from having a miscarriage. That didn't effect my son, but it could have effected my daughter because of the effects it has on natural estrogen production.

[jeff47]

5. Or it could be something else

This behavior existed before BPA was invented. So BPA is not necessarily the cause in your daughter's case.

Also, a baby during pregnancy makes pretty much no estrogen - Mom supplies plenty.

[Fawke Em]

6. "Mom supplies plenty"

I actually didn't, which is why I had to be on progesterone. I know that sounds weird, but the progesterone caused me to produce estrogen which kept me from having a miscarriage.

I've always wondered if that caused her hyperactivity. My son didn't need as much, but my daughter did. He's not hyper and she is - she's also a "drama queen," which may or may not be the effect of our silly society that wants girls to act this way.

P.S. In any case, the doctor has us now rewarding her like you would a pet you want to train for good behavior rather than reacting to the bad behavior. I wouldn't say it's working 100 percent of the time, but it is causing the drama to drop a little.

[FarCenter]

7. From the article:

The chemical bisphenol A, known as BPA, has become familiar in the past decade, notably to parents searching for BPA-free bottles for their infants. Animal studies have found that BPA, which resembles the sex hormone estrogen, harms health. The growing brain is an especially worrisome target: estrogen is known to be important in fetal brain development in rodents. Now a study suggests that prenatal, but not childhood, exposure to BPA is connected to anxiety, depression and difficulty controlling behaviors in three-year-olds, especially girls.

BPA is an estrogen mimic and disrupts estrogen in the brain during fetal development. Too little or too much estrogen during fetal brain development is likely to lead to problems.

[TheMadMonk]

8. No. Aluminium is safe enough, it's not coated AFAIK. Steel cans...

...are the ones. The ones that have a white or gold plastic lining. So, never do the old trick of standing the can in a pot of boiling water (to avoid needing to wash the pot.)

We should simply return to the old tinplate. The stuff that turned slate grey over time once it was opened. It made a good proxy for the age of the contents.

[FarCenter]

9. According to Coca Cola almost all metal cans, including aluminum ones, have BPA in their coatings

Why is BPA in Coke can liners?

BPA is a chemical used worldwide in making thousands of materials, including some plastics, coatings, and adhesives. Virtually all metal cans used for food and beverage products are lined on the inside with a coating that uses BPA as a starting material. This coating guards against contamination and extends the shelf life of foods and beverages.

BPA is also used in the manufacture of shatter-resistant bottles, medical devices (including dental sealants), sports safety equipment and compact disc covers. It has been used for more than 50 years.

We are aware that a limited number of metal can producers are using an older generation of can lining material as an alternative for some specialty products. Such alternatives do not work for the mass production of aluminum beverage cans, and they do not work for all types of food or beverages.

http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/contactus/faq/coca-cola-bpa.html

Aluminum is highly reactive, especially to acid containing foods and beverages. So a coating is used to protect the metal.