Greenness Availability and Respiratory Health in a Population of Urbanised Children in North-Western Italy

Abstract

Paediatric Asthma contributes in paediatric global burden of diseases, as the most common chronic disease in children. Children are exposed to many environmental risk-factors, able to determine or worsen respiratory diseases, and contributing to asthma and asthma-like symptoms increases, especially in metropolitan areas. In urban settings, surrounding vegetation (greenness) may provide important benefits to health, including the promotion of physical activity and the mitigation of air and noise pollution. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between greenness and respiratory health. A total of 187 children (10–13 yrs old) were recruited in Turin, the north-western part of Italy. The prevalence of asthma and asthma-like symptoms was calculated from self-reported data collected by SIDRIA questionnaire. Spirometry test was performed to obtain respiratory flow measurements. Greenness was measured at individual level through the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) estimations from remote-sensing images. Higher exposure (3rd tertile vs. 1st tertile) to NDVI was associated to significantly lower ORs for asthma [0.13 CI 95% 0.02–0.7, p = 0.019], bronchitis [0.14 CI 95% 0.05–0.45, p = 0.001], and current wheezing [0.25 CI 95% 0.09–0.70, p = 0.008]. A significative positive association was found between greenness and FEF25–75, since children exposed to the 2nd tertile of NDVI reported a significantly decreased FEF25–75 compared to those in the 3rd tertile [B: −2.40; C.I.95%: −0.48–0.01; p = 0.049]. This cross-sectional study provided additional data on still inconsistent literature referring to respiratory health in children and green spaces, attesting a positive effect of greenness in a specific area of Italy. Further research is still needed.

Associations of Preconception Exposure to Air Pollution and Greenness with Offspring Asthma and Hay Fever

“…Exposure to greenspace has, on the other hand, been associated with beneficial health effects such as reduced risk of mortality, diabetes, and high blood pressure [ 7 ]. However, effects of greenness on asthma and allergies are less clear [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ]. Some studies have indicated decreased respiratory morbidity in adulthood due to living near green areas [ 7 , 12 , 13 , 14 ] while the effects of residential greenness on childhood allergic rhinitis and aeroallergen sensitization have depended on the region [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ].…”

Residential green space and medication sales for childhood asthma: A longitudinal ecological study in Belgium

“…Environmental exposures to traffic-related air pollution, fungi, second-hand tobacco smoke, and aeroallergens, in combination with genetic predisposition and early life exposure to antibiotics, are major risk factors for developing and exacerbating allergic and non-allergic asthma (Flamant-Hulin et al 2013;Dannemiller et al 2016;Liu et al 2016;Tétreault et al 2016; Khreis et al 2017;Papi et al 2018;Guilbert et al 2018;Eguiluz-Gracia et al 2019;Murrison et al 2019;Parmes et al 2020;Buteau et al 2020;Patrick et al 2020). Vegetation may have the potential to mitigate some of these harmful environmental exposures and could therefore protect against asthma and other respiratory conditions (Tischer et al 2017;Squillacioti et al 2019;Fuertes et al 2020). For instance, urban green spaces may mitigate outdoor air pollution and hereby prevent asthma exacerbations (Markevych et al 2017).…”

Formaldehyde, Oxidative Stress, and FeNO in Traffic Police Officers Working in Two Cities of Northern Italy

“…In the future, additional analyses on urban settings, such as greyness/greenness quantification [46], may be helpful in driving new preventive strategies related to urban management, for outdoor workers and the general population.…”