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Race/ethnicity-specific associations of urinary phthalates with childhood body mass in a nationally representative

Leonardo Trasande1, Teresa M Attina, Sheela Sathyanarayana

  • 1Department of Pediatrics, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York 10016, USA. Leonardo.trasande@nyumc.org

Environmental Health Perspectives
|February 23, 2013
PubMed

Insights

Phthalate exposure is linked to increased odds of childhood obesity and higher BMI z-scores specifically in non-Hispanic Black children. This race/ethnicity-specific association highlights potential disparities in environmental health impacts.

Area of Science:

  • Environmental Health
  • Pediatric Endocrinology
  • Epidemiology

Background:

  • Phthalates are chemicals with known antiandrogenic effects.
  • They may also disrupt lipid and carbohydrate metabolism.
  • Urinary phthalate concentrations and childhood obesity prevalence vary across racial/ethnic groups.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between urinary phthalate metabolites and body mass indicators.
  • To analyze data from a nationally representative sample of U.S. children and adolescents.

Main Methods:

  • Cross-sectional analysis of 2,884 children aged 6-19 from the 2003-2008 NHANES.
  • Stratified and whole-sample analyses using multivariable linear and logistic regression.
  • Examined associations between BMI z-score, overweight, obesity, and phthalate metabolite concentrations, controlling for covariates.

Main Results:

  • A significant association was found between increased low-molecular-weight (LMW) phthalate metabolites and higher odds of overweight and obesity in non-Hispanic Black children.
  • Each log unit increase in LMW metabolites correlated with a 21-22% increase in overweight/obesity odds and a 0.090-SD increase in BMI z-score in this subgroup.
  • No significant associations were identified in other racial/ethnic groups or the overall sample for LMW, HMW, or DEHP metabolites.

Conclusions:

  • A specific association exists between phthalate metabolites and childhood obesity among non-Hispanic Black children in the U.S.
  • Further research is required to confirm these findings.
  • Investigating genetic/epigenomic factors or differential exposure levels may explain observed racial/ethnic disparities.
Abstract

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