by raaman » 16 Dec 2016, 11:52 People living near high traffic areas may be at greater risk of developing excess fat around their midsection, according to a recent study. The findings, that were recently published, suggest that people whose homes are on the highways of high traffic, near railway stations and airports are at greater risk of developing a spare tire of fat around the waist. Clinically, obesity was referred to as a central element, which is believed to be one of the most harmful types of body fat. Most people exposed to noise sources were at the greater risk of abdominal obesity.
As per the study, exposure to traffic noise is growing due to continuing urbanization and increased traffic volumes. Therefore, it is important to fully assess the public health implications of this development. The researchers calculated the amount of traffic by road, rail and aircraft noise. Many people are exposed since the last few years. This has been done by collecting official statistics on traffic levels and the figures of flow of traffic submitted by various municipalities and national data on aircraft noise of a big airport. All the respondents in the study were part of a program on diabetes prevention.
The aim was to examine the risk factors for the onset of diabetes and the best way to prevent it. Participants, who were in the age group of 43-66 years, completed detailed questionnaires covering lifestyle, current health status, levels of psychological distress, insomnia and work stress. They were also asked about environmental noise pollution from road traffic, trains and airplanes. At the end, participants underwent a physical examination, including a review of blood pressure, diabetes testing and measurements of core body fat and overall obesity determined by the body mass index (BMI). The researchers found that sixty percent of the participants had been regularly exposed to road traffic noise.
One in twenty people had been exposed to similar noise levels of trains. A little more than thousand participants had been exposed to aircraft noise over 45 dB. While there was no relationship between traffic noise and overall BMI, the results suggest an association between this type of noise pollution and a larger waist. There was an increase of 0.21 cm in waist size for each additional increase of 5 dB in noise exposure, especially among women. Similarly there was a slight increase in the ratio of waist and hip for each increase of 5 dB in exposure to road traffic noise.
The more sources of noise pollution the people were exposed to at the same time, the greater the risk of a greater concentration of belly fat. People exposed to a single source of noise had a 25 percent greater risk of having a larger waist, while those exposed to three sources saw their risk almost doubled. While the researchers could not draw conclusions about cause and effect, suggesting the connection may be due to noise pollution which acts as a physiological stress factor that increases the production of the hormone called cortisol.
