Green spaces and adverse pregnancy outcomes

Agay-Shay, Keren; Peled, Ammatzia; A, Crespo; Peretz, Chava; Amitai, Yona; Linn, Shai; Friger, Michael; Nieuwenhuijsen, Mark

doi:10.1136/oemed-2013-101961

Cited by 133 publications

(103 citation statements)

References 22 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Studies generally involved birth registries where the mother's address at birth was linked to a measure of greenness, most commonly NDVI, and birth outcomes were assessed from medical records that presented few opportunities for systematic bias. Positive associations between greenness and birth weight were reported consistently across the majority of studies (31, 69-72). Other studies found that higher greenness exposure was linked to lower odds of a child being small for gestational age or preterm (31), larger head circumferences (68), and lower infant mortality risk (73), although these findings were not replicated across studies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 70%

A Review of the Health Benefits of Greenness

James¹,

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Researchers are increasingly exploring how neighborhood greenness, or vegetation, may affect health behaviors and outcomes. Greenness may influence health by promoting physical activity and social contact; decreasing stress; and mitigating air pollution, noise, and heat exposure. Greenness is generally measured using satellite-based vegetation indices or land-use databases linked to participants’ addresses. In this review, we found fairly strong evidence for a positive association between greenness and physical activity, and a less consistent negative association between greenness and body weight. Research suggests greenness is protective against adverse mental health outcomes, cardiovascular disease, and mortality, though most studies were limited by cross-sectional or ecological design. There is consistent evidence that greenness exposure during pregnancy is positively associated with birth weight, though findings for other birth outcomes are less conclusive. Future research should follow subjects prospectively, differentiate between greenness quantity and quality, and identify mediators and effect modifiers of greenness-health associations.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 70%

A Review of the Health Benefits of Greenness

James¹,

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For example, the distribution of urban green space is largely connected with racial and socio-economic patterns, where areas with a lower minority population and higher average incomes tend to have more recreation green space [23]. Green space is an important consideration, as it has been linked to improved pregnancy outcomes through decreasing the risk of low birth weight [24][25][26], small for gestational age [27], and preterm birth [28]. Recognizing the influence and need for such positive social environments and policies to support physical activity are further highlighted in Healthy People 2020 [29].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Community Level Predictors of Physical Activity Among Women in the Preconception Period

Vamos

Sun

Flory

et al. 2015

Matern Child Health J

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although physical activity is a key behavior targeted during the preconception period given its significant impact on pregnancy/birth outcomes and psychological well-being, few women meet national guidelines. While intrapersonal factors influencing physical activity among this population have been studied, community factors remain unexplored. The objective of this study was to examine community level predictors of physical activity among preconception women. Data from Add Health were limited to women (Wave III; age 18-28; n = 7,596) and excluded respondents who were pregnant, physically disabled, and missing data. The outcome variable was ≥5 instances of moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in 1 week. Community predictor variables included neighborhood-level structural and social determinants (e.g., socio-demographic composition; landscape diversity; urbanization; access to resources; crime; vehicle availability). Multilevel logistic regression modeling was used to estimate the odds of engaging in ≥5 instances of MVPA. Few women (26 %) reported ≥5 instances of MVPA in 1 week. Adjusted multilevel analysis revealed women in the preconception period were more likely to report high MVPA when living in communities with larger population densities (OR 1.34, 95 % CI 1.02-1.77) and median household income greater than $50,000 (OR 1.33, 95 % CI 1.06-1.66). Additionally, a significant inverse trend was found between high MVPA and proportion of the community without a high school diploma. Findings suggest that neighborhood composition may have an impact on preconception physical activity status. Implications include increased efforts targeting community conditions for facilitating physical activity; ultimately, improving health among women and subsequent offspring.

show abstract

“…Indeed, that surrounding greenness was most strongly related to birth weight for women of low socioeconomic status (SES) or living in low SES areas1 4 5 has been attributed to lower SES groups spending more time in their home neighbourhood 4. Thus, the greenness measures used will represent exposure better for some women than others, and Agay-Shay and colleagues’ assertion that any exposure misclassification in their study is random is not supported.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Agay-Shay and colleagues analyse a large Israeli birth cohort to address whether birth outcomes were related to levels of ‘surrounding greenness’ (ie, density of vegetation) around the mother's place of residence 1. Their study builds on the existing green space and health literature,2 and contributes to recent explorations of whether maternal exposure to green space might benefit the unborn child 3–7.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Greener areas also typically have lower levels of air pollution, noise and temperature, and reduced exposure to these environmental stressors may either directly or indirectly benefit foetal health. In studies that have tested these pathways, the beneficial relationships have remained after adjustment for noise,3 air pollutants1 3–6 and maternal stress,3 although a partial mediating role for air pollutants is suggested in a Spanish study 5. The potential mechanisms must be explored in further studies so that the health-promoting characteristics of surrounding greenness can be better understood and enhanced in our communities.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation