Associations of self-reported residential noise exposure with obesity and hypertension in children and adolescents

Abstract

BackgroundEpidemiologic evidence linking environmental noise to obesity and hypertension remains scarce, especially in children, and the results remain inconclusive. This study aims to examine the cross-sectional associations of self-reported residential noise exposure with obesity and hypertension in children and adolescents.MethodsAs an ongoing study, a representative sample of the children aged 6–9 years in Chongqing were selected in 2014. In 2019, self-reported residential noise (answer categories: “very quiet,” “moderately quiet,” “slightly quiet,” and “not at all quiet”) data were collected, and 3,412 participants with completed data were included in the analyses.ResultsParticipants living in a quieter area had a significantly lower risk of obesity than those living in a noisy area (very quiet: OR = 0.50, 95%CI: 0.29–0.88, P = 0.015; moderately quiet: OR = 0.61, 95%CI: 0.36–1.02, P = 0.059). Similar associations were observed for abdominal obesity, although did not reach statistical significance. Consistently, residential noise exposure was significantly associated with body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-height ratio. Self-reported residential noise exposure was positively associated with systolic blood pressure (β = −1.808; 95%CI = −3.495, −0.110; P = 0.037). When sleep quality, study stress, BMI, and vegetable/fruits consumption were further adjusted, all effect estimates decreased, and no statistical association was observed between noise exposure and blood pressure. Furthermore, we found that the mediating effects of obesity on the associations of self-reported residential noise exposure with hypertension were 6.8% (% of total effect mediated = 0.068, 95%CI: −2.58, 3.99), although did not reach statistical significance.ConclusionsSelf-reported residential noise exposure was associated with a higher risk of obesity or abdominal obesity. Also, self-reported residential noise exposure was positively associated with hypertension, and obesity may partially mediate this association, but did not reach statistical significance.

Hearing habits of young adolescent students from public and private schools in the Brazilian Federal District

“…Noise-induced hearing loss is an invisible problem that young people may overlook when it comes to loud music -which could be minimized with the support from schools and educative programs. Besides observable minimum cochlear changes 7 , other impairments may affect this population's hearing, such as tinnitus, which in turn causes a series of other problems (like stress, irritability, and mood changes) and is a quite frequent complaint in the general population [15][16][17][18][19][20] . Moreover, psychosocial aspects could be further investigated in cooperation with psychology researchers 13,15,17,20 .…”

Hábitos auditivos de jovens adolescentes escolares da rede pública e privada do Distrito Federal

“…A PAIR é um problema invisível, que pode estar sendo ignorado pela população jovem quando se trata da música de alta intensidade, e poderia ser minimizado com o apoio das escolas e de programas educativos. Além de alterações cocleares mínimas, possíveis de serem observadas 7 , há outros prejuízos à audição que pode se manifestar nesta população, como o zumbido, que já traz consigo uma série de outros problemas, como estresse, irritabilidade, alteração do humor, e tem sido uma queixa muito frequente entre a população de modo geral [15][16][17][18][19][20] . Outra questão é o caráter psicossocial que poderia ser melhor investigado em conjunto com pesquisadores da área da Psicologia 13,15,17,20 .…”