Greenspace, urbanity and health: relationships in England

Exploring the relationship between childhood obesity and proximity to the coast: A rural/urban perspective

“…Since a very low number of MSOAs (4) in the most rural class were within the 0-1km coastal category, the two rural classes were aggregated. A similar approach to urban/rural categorisation has been used in previous relevant studies (Mitchell and Popham, 2007;Wheeler et al, 2012), although these were based on higher resolution geographies. The percentage of greenspace (area density) was included as a potential confounder due to its association with childhood obesity (Cetateanu and Jones, 2014;Coombes et al, 2010).…”

“…Therefore, the study indicates that childhood obesity is associated with coastal proximity, however it cannot be claimed that coastal proximity causes a decrease in childhood obesity. Furthermore, since this study uses area, rather than individual level data, the ecological fallacy may be in operation; the generalisations made between area level/aggregate measures may not necessarily translate to the individual level (Mitchell and Popham, 2007). Also, while we controlled for potential confounding by including area level covariates within the regression model, it is possible that residual confounding explains some or all of the associations observed.…”

“…into quintiles . Other potential cofounders included the Index of Multiple Deprivation (2010), due to the strong relationship between childhood obesity and socioeconomic status (NOO, 2012;Reisch and Gwozdz, 2011) and since, both Wheeler et al (2012) and Mitchell and Popham (2007) found that the health benefits derived from access to natural environments, such as the coast or greenspace, were greater amongst the most deprived populations. The percentage of the population aged between 10 and 14 years was also included, since Salvy et al (2012) found that the prevalence of children of a similar age group in an area can promote social networking and thereby encourage physical activity through play.…”

Green spaces and pregnancy outcomes in Southern California

“…Greenness exposure has been associated with reductions in risks of various health outcomes, including self-perceived health (Maas et al, 2006;Mitchell and Popham, 2007), blood pressure (Agyemang et al, 2007) and mortality (Villeneuve et al, 2012). The causal nature of these associations is not established to date (Bowler et al, 2010;Lee and Maheswaran, 2011) and the biological mechanisms potentially in play are not clear, but possible pathways include reduction of exposure to noise, air pollution (Dadvand et al, 2012b) and urban heat (Jenerette et al, 2011), as well as stress relief (Fan et al, 2011;van den Berg et al, 2010).…”

Bridging Human and Natural Sciences for a Better Understanding of Urban Floral Patterns: the Role of Planting Practices in Mediterranean Gardens

“…These ecosystem services include regulating services, e.g., control of climate and disease; provisioning services, e.g., production of food and fresh water; and supporting services, e. g., nutrient cycling or primary production (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005). Studies now focus on the underlying mechanisms linking biodiversity with human health or social relations (de Vries et al 2003, Maas et al 2006, Andersson et al 2007, Mitchell and Popham 2007. In cities, the importance of urban nature for human wellbeing and recreation has been clearly acknowledged (Dunnett andQasim 2000, Takano et al 2002).…”