Obesogens and obesity—An alternative view?

It is accepted that diet is a major contributor to the obesity epidemic, but environmental ‘obesogenic’ chemicals have also been suggested recently as playing a role, based on in vitro, animal and epidemiological studies. Using two such ‘obesogen’ examples (bisphenol A, certain phthalate esters), we argue that their association with obesity and obesity‐related disorders in humans could be circumstantial, and thus non‐causal, because a Western style diet increases exposure to these compounds. This possibility needs to be addressed before further (confounded) epidemiological studies on ‘obesogens’ are undertaken.