Blood pressure in young adulthood and residential greenness in the early-life environment of twins

Bijnens, Esmée; Nawrot, Tim S.; Loos, Ruth J.F.; Gielen, Marij; Vlietinck, Robert; Derom, Cathérine

doi:10.1186/s12940-017-0266-9

Cited by 40 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…A limited number of studies have quantified exposure to green spaces (e.g., parks) using land cover datasets to assess, for instance, the proportion of parks in a participant’s administrative boundary (e.g., Census tract) or within a given radius from the subject’s address [13,15,16,18–24]. Other studies have assessed the road network distance between a participant’s home address and green spaces such as parks, forests, agricultural land, and others [10,14,16,25–28].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An IQR increase in greenness was associated with 3.6 (95% CI: 1.2, 6.0) mmHg lower night time systolic blood pressure recorded with a blood pressure monitors among participants living in the same address their entire life in Belgium [15]. Among participants living at an address different from their birth address at the time of the measurement, only residential greenness exposure in early-life was associated with night systolic blood pressure.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Review of Epidemiologic Studies on Greenness and Health: Updated Literature Through 2017

Fong

Hart

James

2018

Curr Envir Health Rpt

421

290

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Purpose of review Many studies suggest that exposure to natural vegetation, or greenness, may be beneficial for a variety of health outcomes. We summarize the recent research in this area. Recent findings We observed consistent and strong evidence of associations for higher greenness with improvements in birth weights and physical activity, as well as lower mortality rates. Recent studies also suggested that exposure to greenness may lower levels of depression and depressive symptoms. The evidence on greenness and cardiovascular health remains mixed. Findings are also inconsistent for greenness measures and asthma and allergies. Summary Our knowledge of the impacts of greenness on a wide variety of health outcomes continues to evolve. Future research should incorporate information on specific species and some qualities of natural greenness that might drive health outcomes, integrate exposure assessments that incorporate personal mobility into analyses, and include prospective designs to add to the growing evidence that nature exposure positively affects health.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review of Epidemiologic Studies on Greenness and Health: Updated Literature Through 2017

Fong

Hart

James

2018

Curr Envir Health Rpt

421

290

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Mixed modeling was performed to investigate buccal telomere length in young adulthood and telomere tracking in association with covariates. To differentiate between early-life and adulthood exposure to traffic and greenness, we performed stratified analysis for twins who were living at the same address their whole life (non-movers, n = 62) and twins who were living at a different address than their birth address at the time of sample collection (movers, n = 122) [ 34 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Telomere tracking from birth to adulthood and residential traffic exposure

Bijnens

Zeegers

Derom

et al. 2017

BMC Med

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BackgroundTelomere attrition is extremely rapid during the first years of life, while lifestyle during adulthood exerts a minor impact. This suggests that early life is an important period in the determination of telomere length. We investigated the importance of the early-life environment on both telomere tracking and adult telomere length.MethodsAmong 184 twins of the East Flanders Prospective Twin Survey, telomere length in placental tissue and in buccal cells in young adulthood was measured. Residential addresses at birth and in young adulthood were geocoded and residential traffic and greenness exposure was determined.ResultsWe investigated individual telomere tracking from birth over a 20 year period (mean age (SD), 22.6 (3.1) years) in association with residential exposure to traffic and greenness. Telomere length in placental tissue and in buccal cells in young adulthood correlated positively (r = 0.31, P < 0.0001). Persons with higher placental telomere length at birth were more likely to have a stronger downward shift in telomere ranking over life (P < 0.0001). Maternal residential traffic exposure correlated inversely with telomere length at birth. Independent of birth placental telomere length, telomere ranking between birth and young adulthood was negatively and significantly associated with residential traffic exposure at the birth address, while traffic exposure at the residential address at adult age was not associated with telomere length.ConclusionsLongitudinal evidence of telomere length tracking from birth to adulthood shows inverse associations of residential traffic exposure in association with telomere length at birth as well as accelerated telomere shortening in the first two decades of life.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12916-017-0964-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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“…Previous evidence linked residential green spaces with cardiovascular health and cardiovascular risk factors. There is evidence that a high amount of green spaces is associated with a decrease in cardiovascular mortality [16], a lower hazard of CVD [17], a lower cardiovascular risk [18], and some cardiovascular risk factors, such as obesity [19] and high blood pressure [20]. However, there is no consistent pattern of associations with cardiovascular risk factors, especially in adults, as some studies found green spaces to be associated with a decrease in CVD risk factors while others found no associations [12,13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Density of Green Spaces and Cardiovascular Risk Factors in the City of Madrid: The Heart Healthy Hoods Study

Plans

Gullón

Cebrecos

et al. 2019

IJERPH

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The aim of this study is to evaluate the relationship between the density of green spaces at different buffer sizes (300, 500, 1000 and 1500 m) and cardiovascular risk factors (obesity, hypertension, high cholesterol, and diabetes) as well as to study if the relationship is different for males and females. We conducted cross-sectional analyses using the baseline measures of the Heart Healthy Hoods study (N = 1625). We obtained data on the outcomes from clinical diagnoses, as well as anthropometric and blood sample measures. Exposure data on green spaces density at different buffer sizes were derived from the land cover distribution map of Madrid. Results showed an association between the density of green spaces within 300 and 500 m buffers with high cholesterol and diabetes, and an association between the density of green spaces within 1500 m buffer with hypertension. However, all of these associations were significant only in women. Study results, along with other evidence, may help policy-makers creating healthier environments that could reduce cardiovascular disease burden and reduce gender health inequities. Further research should investigate the specific mechanisms behind the differences by gender and buffer size of the relationship between green spaces and cardiovascular risk factors.

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Blood pressure in young adulthood and residential greenness in the early-life environment of twins

Cited by 40 publications

References 34 publications

A Review of Epidemiologic Studies on Greenness and Health: Updated Literature Through 2017

A Review of Epidemiologic Studies on Greenness and Health: Updated Literature Through 2017

Telomere tracking from birth to adulthood and residential traffic exposure

Density of Green Spaces and Cardiovascular Risk Factors in the City of Madrid: The Heart Healthy Hoods Study

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