If you’re wondering why you just can’t get rid of that pesky belly fat despite trying so damn hard, we’ve got an answer for you. According to a report published in Environment International based on a study by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, individuals who were exposed to higher levels of traffic noise tended to be more at risk of being obese.

“Our analysis shows that people exposed to the highest levels of traffic noise are at greater risk of being obese” explained Maria Foraster, first author of the study, according to The Hindustan Times. “For example, we observed that a 10 dB increase in mean noise level was associated with a 17% increase in obesity.”

While the study found no significant correlation between obesity and noise generated by aircraft, they did conclude that long-term exposure to railway noise could lead to a higher risk of being overweight.

“Our study contributes additional evidence to support the hypothesis that traffic-related noise affects obesity because the results we obtained in a different population were the same as those reported by the authors of earlier studies. Nevertheless, more longitudinal studies are needed to confirm the association and to examine certain inconsistencies in the data which, to date, have prevented us from formulating an explanation accepted by the scientific community as a whole”, Foraster explained further.

“In the long term, these effects could give rise to chronic physiological alterations, which would explain the proven association between persistent exposure to traffic-related noise and cardiovascular disease or the more recently discovered associations with diabetes and obesity. Our findings suggest that reducing traffic-related noise could also be a way of combating the obesity epidemic,” she added, reports HT.