A recent widely reported news story (example report from the Independent) suggested that one explanation for the modern rise in obesity was not too much food or two little exercise but many of chemical additives common in the modern environment (especially those found in plastics).
The news stories mostly wrote up the report as though a proper Cochrane-style meta analysis had been done. But the original report is not a proper meta analysis but a selective review of references produced by a lobby group. That doesn't mean their conclusions are wrong, but it should be a reason to apply some skepticism.
So, are common plastic additives and related chemicals a plausible and significant cause of the modern rise in obesity? Or is this just another "chemicals are bad" scare?
