Can bisphenol exposure during pregnancy make your child obese?

What's actually in it

Bisphenol analogues including BPA, BPS, and BPF are found in plastic food containers, canned food linings, water bottles, and receipt paper. During pregnancy, these chemicals cross the placenta and reach the developing baby. They're in nearly everyone's blood at detectable levels.

Your baby's metabolism is programmed before birth. Thyroid hormones play a big role in setting the "speed" of metabolism, and bisphenols are known to disrupt thyroid signaling.

What the research says

A 2026 study in Environ Res measured bisphenol levels in pregnant women and examined how these chemicals changed gene activity in the placenta. They then tracked the children's weight over time.

Mothers with higher bisphenol levels had altered DNA methylation in thyroid-related genes in their placentas. These epigenetic changes disrupted how thyroid hormones were produced and used during fetal development.

The children born to these mothers had a higher risk of becoming overweight or obese in early childhood. The link worked through the thyroid gene changes, meaning bisphenols were essentially reprogramming the baby's metabolism before birth.

BPS and BPF, the "safer" BPA replacements, showed similar effects. Switching to BPA-free products that contain these alternatives may not protect your baby from this particular risk.