Characterising urban green space density and footpath-accessibility in models of BMI

Philip Carthy,Sean Lyons,Anne Nolan

doi:10.1186/s12889-020-08853-9

Philip Carthy, Sean Lyons + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-08853-9

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Abstract

BackgroundWhile exposure to urban green spaces has been associated with various physical health benefits, the evidence linking these spaces to lower BMI, particularly among older people, is mixed. We ask whether footpath availability, generally unobserved in the existing literature, may mediate exposure to urban green space and help explain this volatility in results. The aim of this study is to add to the literature on the association between urban green space and BMI by considering alternative measures of urban green space that incorporate measures of footpath availability.MethodsWe conduct a cross-sectional study combining data from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing and detailed land use information. We proxy respondents’ exposure to urban green spaces at their residential addresses using street-side and area buffers that take account of the presence of footpaths. Generalised linear models are used to test the association between exposure to several measures of urban green space and BMI.ResultsRelative to the third quintile, exposure to the lowest quintile of urban green space, as measured within a 1600 m footpath-accessible network buffer, is associated with slightly higher BMI (marginal effect: 0.80; 95% CI: 0.16–1.44). The results, however, are not robust to small changes in how green space is measured and no statistically significant association between urban green spaces and BMI is found under other variants of our regression model.ConclusionThe relationship between urban green spaces and BMI among older adults is highly sensitive to the characterisation of local green space. Our results suggest that there are some unobserved factors other than footpath availability that mediate the relationship between urban green spaces and weight status.

Highlights

While exposure to urban green spaces has been associated with various physical health benefits, the evidence linking these spaces to lower body mass index (BMI), among older people, is mixed
While we do find that estimated exposure to the lowest quintile of green space in a 1600 m footpath-accessible network buffer is associated with higher BMI scores, it is clear that an adjustment for footpath-accessibility of urban green space, as we have defined it, has not offered a complete explanation for the u-shaped relationship previously identified in these data by Dempsey et al [17]
The relationship between urban green spaces and BMI among older adults is highly sensitive to the characterisation of local green space

Summary

Introduction

While exposure to urban green spaces has been associated with various physical health benefits, the evidence linking these spaces to lower BMI, among older people, is mixed. We ask whether footpath availability, generally unobserved in the existing literature, may mediate exposure to urban green space and help explain this volatility in results. High BMI is a known risk factor for various non-communicable diseases, including cardiovascular disease, [4] diabetes, [5] heart disease and stroke [6]. This upward trend could create a significant burden on healthcare systems across the world. Of particular interest in the current work is the potential association between weight status and the availability of pedestrian-accessible urban green spaces

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