Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Short Communication
  • Published:

Greener neighborhoods, slimmer people? Evidence from 246 920 Australians

International Journal of Obesity volume 38, pages 156–159 (2014)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Although there is growing consensus that population-level improvements in cardiovascular health depend upon environments that promote healthy lifestyles, evidence to support large-scale investments in neighborhood greenery to tackle obesity is inconsistent and has not focused on adults in middle-to-old age who experience the greatest burden of chronic health problems. Multilevel linear and multinomial logit regression models were fitted to investigate association between body mass index and an objective measure of green space in a sample of 246 920 Australian adults aged 45 years and older (The 45 and Up Study). Proximity to green space was constructed using catchment areas of 1 km radius around each participant. Women with over 80% proximity to green space had relative risk ratios of 0.90 (95% confidence interval: 0.83, 0.97) for overweight and 0.83 (0.74, 0.94) for obese. No similarly protective association was found for men. These results were consistent after controlling for moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and sitting time, each of which was favorably associated with green space proximity in men and women. Large-scale investments to enhance green spaces may promote MVPA and reduce sedentary behavior in middle-to-older-aged adults, but the impact on obesity may not benefit everyone to the same extent.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Sallis JF, Floyd MF, Rodríguez DA, Saelens BE . Role of built environments in physical activity, obesity, and cardiovascular disease. Circulation 2012; 125: 729–737.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Nilsson K, Sangster M, Konijnendijk CC . Introduction. In: Nilsson K, Sangster M, Gallis C, Hartig T, de Vries S, Seeland K, Schipperijn J (eds) Forests, Trees and Human Health. Springer: Dordrecht, The Netherlands, 2011. pp 1–19.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  3. Australian Government. Our Cities Our Future: A National Urban Policy for a Productive, Sustainable and Liveable Future. Department of Infrastructure and Transport: Canberra, Australia, 2011.

  4. Lee ACK, Maheswaran R . The health benefits of urban green spaces: a review of the evidence. J Public Health 2010; 33: 212–222.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Lachowycz K, Jones AP . Greenspace and obesity: a systematic review of the evidence. Obes Rev 2011; 12: e183–e189.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Ellaway A, Macintyre S, Bonnefoy X . Graffiti, greenery, and obesity in adults: secondary analysis of European cross sectional survey. BMJ 2005; 331: 611–612.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Nielsen TS, Hansen KB . Do green areas affect health? Results from a Danish survey on the use of green areas and health indicators. Health Place 2007; 13: 839–850.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Coombes E, Jones AP, Hillsdon M . The relationship of physical activity and overweight to objectively measured green space accessibility and use. Soc Sci Med 2010; 70: 816–822.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Cummins S, Fagg J . Does greener mean thinner? Associations between neighbourhood greenspace and weight status among adults in England. Int J Obes 2011; 36: 1108–1113.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. 45 and Up Study Collaborators. Cohort profile: The 45 and Up Study. Int J Epidemiol 2008; 37: 941–947.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Ng SP, Korda R, Clements M, Latz I, Bauman A, Bambrick H et al. Validity of self-reported height and weight and derived body mass index in middle‐aged and elderly individuals in Australia. Aust N Z J Public Health 2011; 35: 557–563.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Astell-Burt T, Feng X, Kolt GS . Neighbourhood green space is associated with more frequent walking and moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in middle-to-older aged adults. Findings from 203,883 Australians in The 45 and Up Study. Br J Sports Med 2013; doi:10.1136/bjsports-2012-092006.

  13. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. The Active Australia Survey: A Guide and Manual for Implementation, Analysis and Reporting. AIHW: Canberra, Australia, 2003.

  14. Craig CL, Marshall AL, Sjöström M, Bauman AE, Booth ML, Ainsworth BE et al. International physical activity questionnaire: 12-country reliability and validity. Med Sci Sports Excer 2003; 35: 1381–1395.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Kessler RC, Andrews G, Colpe LJ, Hiripi E, Mroczek DK, Normand SL et al. Short screening scales to monitor population prevalences and trends in non-specific psychological distress. Psychol Med 2002; 32: 959–976.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Trewin D . Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA). Australian Bureau of Statistics: Canberra, Australia, 2001.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Australian Population and Migration Research Centre. ARIA (Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia) 2012.

  18. Richardson EA, Mitchell R . Gender differences in relationships between urban green space and health in the United Kingdom. Soc Sci Med 2010; 71: 568–575.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Kaczynski AT, Henderson KA . Environmental correlates of physical activity: a review of evidence about parks and recreation. Leisure Sciences 2007; 29: 315–354.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Owen N, Bauman A, Brown W . Too much sitting: a novel and important predictor of chronic disease risk? Br J Sports Med 2009; 43: 81–83.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank all the men and women who participated in The 45 and Up Study. The 45 and Up Study is managed by the Sax Institute in collaboration with major partner Cancer Council New South Wales; and partners the Heart Foundation (NSW Division); NSW Ministry of Health; beyondblue: the national depression initiative; Ageing, Disability and Home Care, NSW Family and Community Services; the Australian Red Cross Blood Service and UnitingCare Ageing. We acknowledge the use of 2006 census and boundary data provided by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. To preserve the anonymity of participants in The 45 and Up Study, some parameters of the Census Collection District level data cannot be reported. This location-indexing data from The 45 and Up Study is highly restricted access and will be made available only through SURE (https://www.sure.org.au/).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Science and Health, University of Western Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    T Astell-Burt & G S Kolt

  2. School of Geography and Geosciences, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK

    T Astell-Burt

  3. Centre of Health Research, School of Medicine, University of Western Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    X Feng

Authors
  1. T Astell-Burt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. X Feng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. G S Kolt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to T Astell-Burt.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Astell-Burt, T., Feng, X. & Kolt, G. Greener neighborhoods, slimmer people? Evidence from 246 920 Australians. Int J Obes 38, 156–159 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2013.64

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2013.64

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links