Abstract
BackgroundThe aim of this study was to investigate whether physical activity (in general, and more specifically, walking and cycling during leisure time and for commuting purposes, sports and gardening) is an underlying mechanism in the relationship between the amount of green space in people's direct living environment and self-perceived health. To study this, we first investigated whether the amount of green space in the living environment is related to the level of physical activity. When an association between green space and physical activity was found, we analysed whether this could explain the relationship between green space and health.MethodsThe study includes 4.899 Dutch people who were interviewed about physical activity, self-perceived health and demographic and socioeconomic background. The amount of green space within a one-kilometre and a three-kilometre radius around the postal code coordinates was calculated for each individual. Multivariate multilevel analyses and multilevel logistic regression analyses were performed at two levels and with controls for socio-demographic characteristics and urbanicity.ResultsNo relationship was found between the amount of green space in the living environment and whether or not people meet the Dutch public health recommendations for physical activity, sports and walking for commuting purposes. People with more green space in their living environment walked and cycled less often and fewer minutes during leisure time; people with more green space garden more often and spend more time on gardening. Furthermore, if people cycle for commuting purposes they spend more time on this if they live in a greener living environment. Whether or not people garden, the time spent on gardening and time spent on cycling for commuting purposes did not explain the relationship between green space and health.ConclusionOur study indicates that the amount of green space in the living environment is scarcely related to the level of physical activity. Furthermore, the amount of physical activity undertaken in greener living environments does not explain the relationship between green space and health.
Highlights
IntroductionThe aim of this study was to investigate whether physical activity (in general, and walking and cycling during leisure time and for commuting purposes, sports and gardening) is an underlying mechanism in the relationship between the amount of green space in people's direct living environment and self-perceived health
The aim of this study was to investigate whether physical activity is an underlying mechanism in the relationship between the amount of green space in people's direct living environment and self-perceived health
Before analysing the relationship between the amount of green space in people's living environment and their level of physical activity, we looked at the bivariate correlation between the percentage of green space and degree of urbanicity
Summary
The aim of this study was to investigate whether physical activity (in general, and walking and cycling during leisure time and for commuting purposes, sports and gardening) is an underlying mechanism in the relationship between the amount of green space in people's direct living environment and self-perceived health. There is increasing attention and evidence for a positive relation between the amount of green space in the living environment and people's health and well-being. Several mechanisms may be underlying, of which the following are most commonly mentioned: recovery from stress and attention fatigue, encouragement of physical activity and facilitation of social contact [4,5]. In this study we aim to investigate whether physical activity is a possible mechanism behind the relationship between green space and health
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