Can Traffic Noise Cause Obesity?

A new study reports that noise, which functions as a stress trigger and augments cortisol levels in people, may cause weight gain and great health risks. This research was done in Stockholm, Sweden, where 5,075 people who live in both, rural and urban cities, were exposed to different traffic noises since 1999.

During this period of time, it was shown that people who were exposed to a combination of vehicle, plane, and train noises showed bigger risk of increasing visceral fats, which are known to be the most dangerous, health wise. The participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire regarding their lifestyle in terms of psychological, and health issues.

Out of the total amount of individuals being tested, 54% were only exposed to vehicular traffic, 15% combined two of the previous mentioned noises, and 2% had to deal with all three of them. The noise levels never hit decibels that surpassed the recommended measure of 45 dB. Results showed that risks of getting body fat increases 25% for those who were exposed to just one type of traffic noise, and almost 50% for those exposed to all three. These results can be found on the Occupational & Environmental Medicine website.

Dr. Christian Vuskovic mentions that these relationship may seem extremely odd for most people but he explains, “Noise is great cause of stress among societies nowadays, like ours, where we are living surrounded by transportation systems that can produce up to 50 or 60 decibels worth of noise.”