Over eating, not a lack of exercise is to blame for the American obesity epidemic - a new study claimed - warning that physical activity could not fully compensate for excess calories, according to afp. “There is no evidence that a marked reduction in physical activity has been a contributor to this epidemic in the United States,” study leader Boyd Swinburn said.

Swinburn said American children had grown on average four kilogrammes heavier over the past three decades with adults putting on an extra eight kilogrammes. The study calculated what Americans should weigh today based on their current, higher food intake, and comparing this to their actual weight.

If they weighed more than projected, this would suggest a drop in physical activity. In fact, researchers found that American adults weighed less than could be expected from their diet, “which means if anything over that period of time, the adults had been increasing their physical activity, not decreasing,” said Swinburn.

Among children, the tests yielded a 100 percent match, leading researchers to conclude that changes in physical activity had no impact whatsoever on America’s children growing fatter. According to Relaxnews, a long-term study of girls between the ages of 9 and 11 in New York City’s East Harlem and surrounding communities, found that increased exposure to certain plastics was linked to higher rates of obesity.

Phthalates, chemicals used to make plastics pliable are present in many personal care products and toys. They are a type of endocrine disruptor and have been shown to affect glands and hormones regulating bodily functions. They have also been linked to numerous health problems, including reproductive problems in men as well as in the developing reproductive organs of infant boys.

Large amounts of phthalates were found in the heavier girls, researchers said and the amounts were higher than the average levels that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have found in nationwide analysis.

The data - which was published in Epidemiology reported by the New York Times- provides more evidence supporting the hypothesis that environmental factors and not exclusively dietary ones are playing a larger role in the increasing incidences of obesity. Phthalates are found in many toys, pacifiers and children’s products as well as in wallpaper, fake leathers and shower curtains and are not usually labeled in personal care products.