“Traffic noise fuelling obesity epidemic”
Articles in The Daily Telegraph, The Daily Mail, The Guardian, The Times, The Independent, and The Daily Express on Tuesday 26th May 2015 claimed “Road and jet noise fuelling obesity epidemic”. In fact the link between noise and obesity was not established by the study.
Dr Anna Hansell, Assistant Director, Small Area Health Statistics Unit, MRC-PHE Centre for Environment and Health, Imperial College London, said:
“While interesting, this is one of the first studies to look at the link between waist size and traffic noise, so it’s definitely too soon to be able to blame your increasing waist-line on traffic noise! The study needs to be replicated in other areas and in other study populations to confirm the findings. Also, the size of the reported associations with traffic noise are small. Eating a sensible diet and taking regular exercise remains the best way to help prevent a midriff bulge.”
Document type: For The Record
Published: 26 May 2015
Source: Sense About Science
