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Noise: Stress starts in childhood
Daily life exerts constant stress on children’s ears. Tests conducted by the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) about noise exposure and the impact of noise on 1,048 children aged 8-14 demonstrate that one in every eight children suffer considerable impairment of hearing ability. One in every six children lives along roads with heavy traffic, and the child’s bedroom in nearly three thirds of the households in this group faces the street. The latter group shows a tendency to have moderately higher blood pressure as compared to others. One in every six among the 11-to-14-year-olds registered stress due to daytime or night-time road traffic noise. Children from families in the lower socio-economic bracket are generally much more exposed. ”We must become aware that we live in a world that is too loud. Noise is a stress factor for adults as well as children. High sound levels lead to hearing damage that is aggravated in the course of a lifetime. We must therefore take precautions against noise, especially for children and adolescents”, said Dr. Thomas Holzmann, Vice President of UBA. read more
