An ecological study investigating the association between access to urban green space and mental health

Nutsford, Daniel; Pearson, Amber L.; Kingham, Simon

doi:10.1016/j.puhe.2013.08.016

Cited by 431 publications

(285 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…56 These neighborhood characteristics are very common in urban areas and have been also related to mental functioning. [57][58][59] All these aspects may be particularly important during adolescence, given that this is a critical period for the development of obesity and for the emergence of depressive symptoms. Further, minority adolescents report higher depressive symptoms than nonminority adolescents 60 and may have limited access to mental health services 61 ; thus, building mental health components into health promotion interventions may have a greater impact on adolescents' physical and mental health.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Depressive Symptoms Are Associated with Excess Weight and Unhealthier Lifestyle Behaviors in Urban Adolescents

Castillo

Francis²,

Wylie‐Rosett³

et al. 2014

Childhood Obesity

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Background: Adolescence is a critical period for the development of depressive symptoms and obesity. This study examined the association of depressive symptoms with standardized BMI (BMI z-score), lifestyle behaviors, and self-efficacy measures in a sample of urban adolescents.Methods: A school-based study was conducted among adolescents (N = 1508) enrolled from 11 public schools. Depressive symptoms were assessed with Kandel's depressive symptoms scale for adolescents. Fruit and vegetable intake and intake of energydense foods were assessed by a short food frequency questionnaire. Sedentary behavior and physical activity (PA) were obtained by self-report. Height and weight were measured directly and BMI z-scores were calculated. Mixed-effects models were used to examine the association of depressive symptoms with BMI z-score and lifestyle behaviors, accounting for clustering at school level and adjusting for confounders. Self-efficacy measures were evaluated as potential mediators.Results: The sample was 53% female, 75% Hispanic, and 82% US born, with a mean age of 13.9 years. Higher depressive symptoms were associated with higher BMI z-score (b = 0.02; p = 0.02), intake of energy-dense foods (b = 0.42; p < 0.001), and sedentary behavior (b = 0.48; p < 0.001), but lower PA (b = -0.03; p = 0.01). There was an interaction by gender in the association of depressive symptoms and PA. Self-efficacy mediated the association of depressive symptoms and PA.Conclusions: Obesity prevention and treatment programs should consider addressing the role of negative emotions as part of their preventive strategies.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Depressive Symptoms Are Associated with Excess Weight and Unhealthier Lifestyle Behaviors in Urban Adolescents

Castillo

Francis²,

Wylie‐Rosett³

et al. 2014

Childhood Obesity

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“…Two studies reported an association between GI and mental health. They found that living near GI is associated with a lower risk of receiving anxiety mood disorder treatments [39] and a lower rate of prescriptions for antidepressant medication [40]. Because of the nature of the studies, they only investigated the area-levels of the relationship, which means that they cannot consider individual's income and medical histories.…”

Section: Mental Healthmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The closer a person lives to a green space, the more likely they are to be gain long-term health benefits. These outcomes came from studies of pregnant women [42], newborn children [16], school-aged children [31,42], and adults [29,39]. The health outcomes associated with the proximity to green spaces include mental health [39,42], pregnancy outcomes [25], blood pressure [16], lower rates of obesity [31], and lower mortality rates [29].…”

Section: Proximitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Green Infrastructure, Green Stormwater Infrastructure, and Human Health: A Review

Suppakittpaisarn

Jiang

Sullivan

2017

Curr Landscape Ecol Rep

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Purpose of the Review In a growing trend, cities around the world have been installing Green Infrastructure (GI) in the form of vegetated landscapes that provide ecological benefits such as stormwater management, wildlife habitats, and temperature moderation (Tzoulas et al. Landsc Urban Plan. 61(3):11, 2007). Some GI, such as trees and green spaces, have positive impacts on human health. It is less clear how newer types of GI, such as rain gardens, green roofs, and bioswales, impact human health. These newer GI types are called Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI). Planners and designers need to know the extent to which GSI impacts humans. This systematic review does exactly that-we explore the published evidence regarding the relationships between GI and human health. Recent Findings We identified 55 peer-reviewed articles addressing these issues. Familiar types of GI, such as trees and green spaces, were found to be beneficial to the body (cardiovascular system, cortisol regulation, and pregnancy health), mind (attention capacity and mental health), and behavior (lower crime, better self-regulation, and more pro-social behaviors). We found much less research exploring the impacts of GSI on health.Summary Our findings show that for some of the specific categories of GI, such as trees, considerable evidence exists on the impacts on human health. For other categories, such as rain gardens, green roofs, or biodiverse plantings, however, there is scant evidence of a health impact. We believe it is likely that these forms of GI do impact human health and that the reason for the scarcity of evidence is that few careful studies have examined the impacts of newer forms of GI on specific human health outcomes. Future researchers should investigate the health effects of type, dose, frequency, and duration of exposure to GI and GSI.

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“…The principal types of mental health outcomes reported in previous studies include: improved attention (Tennessen and Cimprich, 1995;Faber and Kuo, 2011); changed attitudes (Weinstein et al, 2009); improved cognition (Berman et al, 2008(Berman et al, , 2012Bratman et al, 2012;Wu et al, 2014;Zedelius and Schooler, 2015); reduced levels of stress, anxiety, and depression (Nutsford et al, 2013;Bratman et al, 2015); reduced use of antidepressants (Hartig et al, 2007;Taylor et al, 2015); improved recovery from stress (Bodin and Hartig, 2001); general improvements in mental health (Nielsen and Hansen, 2007;O'Campo et al, 2009;Bratman et al, 2012;Pearson and Craig, 2014); improved sleep (Grigsby-Toussaint et al, 2015); and improved life satisfaction (García-Mainar et al, 2015). These outcomes are not mutually exclusive: different individuals may experience multiple outcomes simultaneously (Hartig et al, 2011).…”

Section: Mental Health Outcomesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Economic Value of Parks via Human Mental Health: An Analytical Framework

Buckley

Brough

2017

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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Exposure to nature yields a wide range of mental health benefits. Improvements in mental health have substantial economic value, through: reduced mental healthcare costs; improved workplace productivity; and reduced costs of antisocial behavior, both public, and private. These economic gains represent an unquantified ecosystem service attributable to conservation. Since most individual people, and hence most politicians and policy-makers, care more about the private good of individual health than the public good of ecosystem and biodiversity conservation, calculating the economic value of nature via its contributions to human mental health could prove influential in achieving conservation goals. Here, we review relevant literature, establish a framework for these calculations, and identify immediate information gaps and research priorities. Current estimates rely on assumptions, but are similar in scale to those from tourism and recreation, which do influence policy.

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An ecological study investigating the association between access to urban green space and mental health

Cited by 431 publications

References 29 publications

Depressive Symptoms Are Associated with Excess Weight and Unhealthier Lifestyle Behaviors in Urban Adolescents

Depressive Symptoms Are Associated with Excess Weight and Unhealthier Lifestyle Behaviors in Urban Adolescents

Green Infrastructure, Green Stormwater Infrastructure, and Human Health: A Review

Economic Value of Parks via Human Mental Health: An Analytical Framework

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