It’s no longer in doubt that living near an airport can quickly turn into a nightmare. With all the planes taking off and landing, it’s enough to drive you crazy. Between the stress generated and the disrupted sleep, local residents suspect that the consequences on their health could be significant.
As reported by -, one of them is more surprising. The School of Public Health at Boston University (United States) published a study on Tuesday June 4. She explains that there is a strong link between aircraft noise and the higher body mass index (BMI) of some residents near airports.
From 45 dB, noise interferes with a conversation
To carry out their work, the researchers followed 75,000 people living more or less close to the 90 main American airports for 15 years. The objective was to compare their BMI to the decibels of air traffic.
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Thus, according to the study, people who live in an area where noise is greater than 45 dB – when the sound of airplanes drowns out or interferes with the noise of a conversation – have a higher BMI than others.
Stress, fatigue, snacking…
A random ? Probably not… This correlation would be closely linked to stress and lack of sleep. As our colleagues write, previous studies have shown that cortisol levels – a marker of stress – were higher in people exposed to air pollution.
Stress and fatigue disrupt metabolism, promote snacking, and therefore weight gain which can lead to obesity. Other studies also show a link between air pollution and the risk of hypertension or cardiovascular disease.
In France, a study by Public Health France, published this year, shows a link between exposure to aircraft noise and shorter nights, fatigue, hypertension and stress…
When noise kills
This is why every year, the World Health Organization (WHO) warns about noise. She assures that it is the “second cause of morbidity, behind air pollution, among environmental risk factors in Europe”.
Still according to the WHO, “in France, nearly 40% of residents of towns with more than 250,000 inhabitants are exposed to daytime noise levels above 60 decibels (dB) due to road traffic.”
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