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. 2021 Feb;22 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):e13100.
doi: 10.1111/obr.13100. Epub 2020 Jul 14.

Green space access in the neighbourhood and childhood obesity

Peng Jia  1   2   3 , Xinxi Cao  4 , Hongxi Yang  4 , Shaoqing Dai  2   3 , Pan He  5 , Ganlin Huang  6   7 , Tong Wu  3   8 , Yaogang Wang  4
Affiliations

Green space access in the neighbourhood and childhood obesity

Peng Jia et al. Obes Rev. 2021 Feb.

Abstract

Access to green space may influence individual physical activity (PA) and subsequently weight status, as increased exposure to green space could improve health by increasing opportunities and the actual levels of PA. However, whether such associations hold empirically remains inconclusive. This study reviewed articles that analysed the association between access to green space and weight-related behaviours/outcomes among children, published before 1 January 2019. The sample sizes ranged from 108 to 44 278. Four cohorts and 17 cross-sectional studies conducted in nine countries were identified. Overall, evidence showed a positive association between access to green space and PA and a negative association between access to green space and television-watching time, body mass index (BMI) and weight status among children. Distance to the nearest green space, measured by geographic information system (GIS) in 10 studies, was often used to represent access to the nearest green space. It still remains difficult to draw a clear conclusion on the association between access to green space and BMI. Longitudinal studies can directly estimate the strength of the association between exposure and disease, which is needed to determine the causal association between access to green space and weight status.

Keywords: built environment; child; green space; obesity.

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Conflict of interest statement

We declare no conflict of interests.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Study exclusions and inclusions
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Forest plot of the associations between green space access and body mass index
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Forest plot of the associations between green space access and overweight/obesity
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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