Public Servant Lifestyle

Research from the British Medical Association (BMA) suggests that noise pollution - such as that from close and busy roads and railway lines has a detrimental effect on children’s mental health.

According to the BMA, the research - into occupational and environmental medicine - shows those children born prematurely and/or of low birthweight seem to be more vulnerable.

Environmental Noise

The research team investigated the impact of environmental noise on over 1400 children aged 8 to 11 in two parallel studies. One was of a general population of 1280 children exposed to a wide range of noise levels; the other was of 125 children exposed to high or low levels of environmental noise.

All the children in the test groups lived in 31 locations in the Tyrol, central Austria. This is an area of small mountain towns and villages, with a mix of industry, small businesses, and farmland. A busy transit route, connecting the north and south of the country, runs through the area.

Sleep Problems

The researchers checked the birth records of each of the children and obtained reports from their teachers on behaviour and performance in class. Finally, the children were asked how often they felt anxious, stressed, or depressed, or had sleep problems.

The details published in Ambient Neighbourhood Noise and Children’s Mental Health show that environmental noise significantly affected how the children behaved in class, in terms of their academic performance, their social behaviour, and how easily distracted they were. The higher the levels of environmental noise, the greater the impact on mental health.

But the most significant impact was on the mental health of children who had been born prematurely or who had been underweight at birth. These children were shown to be more susceptible to behavioural problems than children born to term, say the authors, therefore, the adverse effects of environmental noise could have an even greater impact on them.

PSP Ltd is not responsible for the contents of external websites.

More information available in Eco Motoring, Outside Living