Do sex and gender modify the association between green space and physical health? A systematic review

Sillman, Delaney; Rigolon, Alessandro; Browning, Matthew H.E.M.; Yoon, Hyun-Seo; McAnirlin, Olivia

doi:10.1016/j.envres.2022.112869

Cited by 70 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 138 publications

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“…This study also did not investigate the effect modifiers the reported associations, indicating further investigation is needed. This is particularly important from an equity perspective, not only based on evidence that communities living with socioeconomic disadvantage may benefit disproportionately more than their more advantaged counterparts from investments in built environment [ 71 ], but also given evidence of differences in associations reported in low and middle income countries [ 72 , 73 ] sex and gender identity [ 74 ], and even personality traits such as extraversion and neuroticism [ 75 ]. That research is crucial to ensure that recommendations for urban planning result in more inclusive and equitable cities that promote health across their diverse populations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Association between built environments and weight status: evidence from longitudinal data of 9589 Australian children

2022

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Background No studies appear to examine potential associations between changes in built environments across childhood and the developmental trajectories of child weight status. Objective Examine the developmental trajectories of child weight status with respect to changes in childhood exposure to the built environments. Methods This study used data of 9589 children with biennial follow-up (2004–2016), retrieved from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. Changes in objectively-measured child weight status (i.e., body mass index-BMI, waist circumference) were investigated in relation to changes in seven built environments (i.e., neighbourhood safety; green space quality; footpaths and street conditions; public transport; shopping facilities; basic services; and local traffic) subjectively reported by caregivers. Group-based discrete trajectory mixture models were used to classify children according to their developmental trajectories of built environments and weight status. Multilevel multinomial logistic regression was employed to examine associations between built environments and child weight status adjusted for confounding. Results Two, four, and six trajectory groups were developed for built environment variables. Three groups namely “moderate”, “high”, and “extreme increase” were generated for each BMI and waist circumference. Findings from multilevel analyses indicated that growing up in neighbourhoods that are considered highly safe, with better quality of green space nearby, and in areas with low local traffic over time are protective against unhealthy weight increase in childhood. Meanwhile, living with better access to shopping facilities and basic services was associated with an unhealthy increase in BMI and/or waist circumference. No clear associations appeared between the quality of footpath and street conditions, access to public transport, and child weight status. Conclusions Built environments might act either as a risk or protective factor of an unhealthy increase in child weight status. Enabling health-promoting neighbourhoods (i.e., highly safe, quality green space nearby, low local traffic) is important to support a healthy weight trajectory across childhood.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Association between built environments and weight status: evidence from longitudinal data of 9589 Australian children

2022

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“…Based on previous findings, we considered gender, socio-economic status, age, and BMI as covariates in each model [ 56 – 59 ] (see also Additional file 1 : Text S1). Third, as previous research has shown inequalities in the use of and access to natural environments [ 60 , 61 ] as well as in the association between built environment variables and health outcomes [ 62 , 63 ], we calculated interactions between the natural environment predictors and socio-demographic indicators (age, gender, and socio-economic status). In addition, for the outcome MVPA, we distinguished between weekdays (Monday–Friday) and weekend days (Saturday–Sunday) as physical activity patterns may differ due to structural changes [ 64 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The geospatial and conceptual configuration of the natural environment impacts the association with health outcomes and behavior in children and adolescents

et al. 2022

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Background Studies investigating associations between natural environments and health outcomes or health behaviors in children and adolescents yielded heterogenous results to date. This may be the result of different geospatial configurations of the natural environment and confounding characteristics of the study population. Thus, we investigated how the relationship between the natural environment and mental health, muscular fitness, and physical activity varies depending on the geospatial configuration of nature and children’s and adolescents’ characteristics. Methods Data were derived from the German Motorik-Modul (MoMo) cohort study (2018–2020) that investigates physical activity, muscular fitness, and health parameters in a national sample of children and adolescents (N = 2843) between four and 17 years (Mage = 10.46 ± 3.49 years; 48.3% girls). Mental health was assessed via questionnaire, muscular fitness via standing long jump, and physical activity with 7-day accelerometer measurement. Using geographic information systems, land cover, and land use data, three different nature definitions were applied. Both circular buffers (100–1000 m) and street-network buffers (1000–5000 m) were created for each of the nature definitions. Associations were explored with linear regression models, and interaction analysis was used to investigate how those relationships vary by gender, age, and socio-economic status. Results The relationship between the three outcomes and the natural environment varied considerably depending on the nature definition, buffer size, and buffer type, as well as socio-demographic characteristics. Specifically, when comparing youth with a high socio-economic status to those with a medium socio-economic status, smaller circular buffer distances were related to less physical activity, but larger street-network buffer distances were related to greater mental health problems. Distinct relationships also occurred for youth with low socio-economic status in those relationships, with the pattern being less clear. Conclusions For future health research studies that investigate the role of the natural environment, we argue for the development of an a-priori model that integrates both geospatial considerations (nature definition, buffer type, and buffer size) and conceptual considerations (health outcome/behavior, sample characteristics) based on potentially underlying mechanisms that link the natural environment and the health outcome or behavior under investigation to theoretically underpin the geospatial configuration of the natural environment.

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“…This gap, in particular, is incredibly wide, ranging from the time humans need to spend with nature (duration), the amount of nature the designers need to provide (intensity), and how often humans need to experience nature (frequency) (Jiang et al 2014a ; Shanahan et al 2016a ). We also do not know the extent to which the people the landscapes are designed for may differ in stress recovery due to their demographics, such as gender, cultures, and personal experiences (Lyons 1983 ; Richards et al 2020 ; Rigolon et al 2021 ; Sillman et al 2022 ). Furthermore, current situations—such as air pollution, global climate changes, and pandemic—may prevent people from accessing physical nature or create more health risks (Browning et al 2020b ; Pinho et al 2021 ; Suppakittpaisarn et al 2020b ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Durations of virtual exposure to built and natural landscapes impact self-reported stress recovery: evidence from three countries

Suppakittpaisarn

Tung

et al. 2022

Landscape Ecol Eng

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Exposure to natural landscapes can benefit human health. However, several knowledge gaps remain regarding the impacts of duration and cultural differences on the health benefits of nature. If these gaps are filled, designers and planners can better design landscapes for stress recovery. This study examined the effects of durations of virtual exposure to the built and natural environments across three countries using an experimental design. Two-hundred and seventy people from USA, Taiwan, and Thailand were induced with an acute stressor and then randomly assigned to watch 360° videos of urban or natural landscapes for 1, 5, or 15 min. Self-reported stress recovery data were collected before and after the exposure. The results suggested that gender and duration of exposure to virtual natural landscapes impacted stress recovery. Female participants recovered from stress more when exposed to the virtual natural landscapes than urban landscapes. Among those participants who were exposed to virtual natural landscapes, 5 min of exposure resulted in greater stress recovery than shorter or longer durations of exposure. Perceived familiarity did not influence the extent of stress recovery. These findings support previous research on how nature exposure is related to stress recovery and varies by dosage, leading to better understanding toward landscape design. Future studies should explore other measures of stress, different landscape designs, participants’ immersion, and levels of control in simulated nature scenes.

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Do sex and gender modify the association between green space and physical health? A systematic review

Cited by 70 publications

References 138 publications

Association between built environments and weight status: evidence from longitudinal data of 9589 Australian children

Association between built environments and weight status: evidence from longitudinal data of 9589 Australian children

The geospatial and conceptual configuration of the natural environment impacts the association with health outcomes and behavior in children and adolescents

Durations of virtual exposure to built and natural landscapes impact self-reported stress recovery: evidence from three countries

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