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Environment
Original research
Exposure to traffic noise and gestational weight gain and postpartum weight retention: a cohort study
  1. Mette Sørensen1,2,
  2. Thorkild I A Sørensen3,4,
  3. Matthias Ketzel5,6,
  4. Ole Raaschou-Nielsen1,5
  1. 1 Diet, Genes and Environment, Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Copenhagen, Denmark
  2. 2 Department of Natural Science and Environment, Roskilde University, Roskilde, Denmark
  3. 3 Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
  4. 4 Department of Public Health, Section of Epidemiology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
  5. 5 Department of Environmental Science, Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark
  6. 6 Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE), University of Surrey, Guildford, UK
  1. Correspondence to Dr Mette Sørensen, Danish Cancer Society, Copenhagen 2100, Denmark; mettes{at}cancer.dk

Abstract

Objectives Transportation noise has been associated with markers of obesity. We aimed to investigate whether road traffic and railway noise were associated with weight gain during and after pregnancy.

Methods Among the women participating in the Danish National Birth Cohort, 74 065 reported on weight before and during the pregnancy (gestational week 30) and 52 661 reported on weight before and 18 months after pregnancy. Residential address history from conception to 18 months after pregnancy was obtained in national registers, and road traffic and railway noise were modelled for all addresses. Associations between noise and gestational weight gain (GWG) and postpartum weight retention (PPWR) were analysed using the linear and log-binomial regression.

Results A 10 dB(A) higher road traffic noise was associated with an increase in GWG of 3.8 g/week (95% CI 2.3 to 5.3) and PPWR of 0.09 kg (95% CI 0.02 to 0.16). For PPWR, this association seemed confined to women who were overweight (0.17 kg, 95% CI 0.02 to 0.32) or obese (0.49 kg, 95% CI 0.26 to 0.73) before pregnancy. Further adjustment by nitrogen dioxide reduced GWG risk estimates and slightly increased PPWR risk estimates. Railway noise ≥65 dB(A) was associated with an increase in GWG of 4.5 g/week (95% CI −2.7 to 11.6) and PPWR of 0.26 kg (95% CI −0.09 to 0.60) compared with levels <55 dB(A).

Conclusions Our findings suggest that road traffic noise is associated with weight gain during and after the pregnancy, which adds to the literature linking transportation noise to adiposity.

  • epidemiology
  • noise
  • weight gain

https://doi.org/10.1136/oemed-2019-105843

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors MS, OR-N and TIAS conceived the present study. MK geocoded addresses and estimated air pollution. MS conducted the statistical analyses and wrote the first manuscript draft. All authors commented and contributed to the final manuscript.

    • Funding The Danish National Birth Cohort was established with a significant grant from the Danish National Research Foundation. Additional support was obtained from the Danish Regional Committees, the Pharmacy Foundation, the Egmont Foundation, the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation, the Health Foundation and other minor grants.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient consent for publication Not required.

    • Ethics approval The Danish National Birth Cohort has been approved by the Danish Scientific Ethics Committee.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • Data availability statement No data are available.