AIRCRAFT NOISE MAY AFFECT CHILDREN’S LEARNING

Could noise affect a child’s ability to learn? Yes, suggests a new study. The research shows exposure to elevated levels of aircraft noise could impair the development of reading and memory in a child.

Stephen Stansfeld, Ph.D, and colleagues from the University of London, evaluated over 2,800 children, between ages 9 and 10, from 89 schools located near three major airports, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Investigators monitored aircraft and road traffic noise levels around these schools and compared the levels to the results of cognitive tests and health questionnaires. They found schools exposed to high levels of aircraft noise are not healthy educational environments.

After assessing the data from the different countries, researchers found children exposed to aircraft noise struggled when it came to reading comprehension, even after adjusting for socio-economic differences. The reading age of children in the United Kingdom was delayed by up to two months and up to one month in children in the Netherlands.

Road traffic noise was found to not have an effect on reading and actually enhances recall memory. However, exposure to aircraft and road traffic was linked to an increased level of stress in children, reducing their quality of life.

Stansfeld says, “These exposure-effect associations, in combination with results from earlier studies, suggest a casual effect of exposure to aircraft noise on children’s reading comprehension. In practical terms, aircraft noise might have only a small effect on the development of reading, but the effect of long-term exposure remains unknown.”

In an editorial, Peter Rabinowitz, M.D. MPH, from Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, United States, adds, “In one study, 326 German school children matched for socio-economic status were followed up prospectively as the old Munich airport was replaced by a new international facility. Children attending schools near the airport improved their reading scores and cognitive memory performance as the airport shut down, while children going to school near the new airport experienced a decrease in testing scores.

Researchers say, they now need to examine the effects of exposure to noise at home and school and what can be done to overcome these effects.

SOURCE: The Lancet, 2005;365:1908-1909, 1942-1949.

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com - www.ivanhoe.com

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