Do Income, Race and Ethnicity, and Sprawl Influence the Greenspace-Human Health Link in City-Level Analyses? Findings from 496 Cities in the United States

Examination of the greenspace—human health relationship operates in at least four dimensions: what is considered greenspace? which moderators and mediators are included? what outcomes are measured? and which units of analysis (e.g., individuals, cities) are studied? We examined three of th...

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Main Authors: Matthew H. E. M. Browning, Alessandro Rigolon
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2018-07-01
Series:International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/7/1541
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spelling doaj-c9e450d84d1f43c2a77315abcf17507f2020-11-25T00:45:17ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health1660-46012018-07-01157154110.3390/ijerph15071541ijerph15071541Do Income, Race and Ethnicity, and Sprawl Influence the Greenspace-Human Health Link in City-Level Analyses? Findings from 496 Cities in the United StatesMatthew H. E. M. Browning0Alessandro Rigolon1Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL 61820, USADepartment of Recreation, Sport and Tourism, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL 61820, USAExamination of the greenspace—human health relationship operates in at least four dimensions: what is considered greenspace? which moderators and mediators are included? what outcomes are measured? and which units of analysis (e.g., individuals, cities) are studied? We examined three of these four dimensions in a cross-sectional study of 496 of the 500 most populated US cities (total population size = 97,574,613, average population per city = 197,920). Spatial average models tested the effect of two greenspace measures (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index greenness and tree cover) on two outcomes (obesity and mental health), while adjusting for income, race and ethnicity, sprawl, age, sex, physical inactivity, median age of housing, and total population. We conducted analyses at the city scale, which is an understudied unit of analysis, and compared findings to individual- and neighborhood-level studies. In two of four models, greenspace was associated with better health. We found race and ethnicity moderated this relationship with varying results. In full sample analyses, cities with greater percentages of non-Hispanic Whites showed links between higher tree cover and lower obesity but marginal relationships between higher greenness and lower obesity. In subsample analyses with majority-non-Hispanic Black cities, higher tree cover was associated with lower obesity and better mental health. These findings advance previous research by showing that race and ethnicity moderate the greenspace—health link at the city level.http://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/7/1541citiesgreenspacetree coverobesitymental healthincomeraceethnicitysprawlmoderationhealth disparities
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Matthew H. E. M. Browning
Alessandro Rigolon
spellingShingle Matthew H. E. M. Browning
Alessandro Rigolon
Do Income, Race and Ethnicity, and Sprawl Influence the Greenspace-Human Health Link in City-Level Analyses? Findings from 496 Cities in the United States
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
cities
greenspace
tree cover
obesity
mental health
income
race
ethnicity
sprawl
moderation
health disparities
author_facet Matthew H. E. M. Browning
Alessandro Rigolon
author_sort Matthew H. E. M. Browning
title Do Income, Race and Ethnicity, and Sprawl Influence the Greenspace-Human Health Link in City-Level Analyses? Findings from 496 Cities in the United States
title_short Do Income, Race and Ethnicity, and Sprawl Influence the Greenspace-Human Health Link in City-Level Analyses? Findings from 496 Cities in the United States
title_full Do Income, Race and Ethnicity, and Sprawl Influence the Greenspace-Human Health Link in City-Level Analyses? Findings from 496 Cities in the United States
title_fullStr Do Income, Race and Ethnicity, and Sprawl Influence the Greenspace-Human Health Link in City-Level Analyses? Findings from 496 Cities in the United States
title_full_unstemmed Do Income, Race and Ethnicity, and Sprawl Influence the Greenspace-Human Health Link in City-Level Analyses? Findings from 496 Cities in the United States
title_sort do income, race and ethnicity, and sprawl influence the greenspace-human health link in city-level analyses? findings from 496 cities in the united states
publisher MDPI AG
series International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
issn 1660-4601
publishDate 2018-07-01
description Examination of the greenspace—human health relationship operates in at least four dimensions: what is considered greenspace? which moderators and mediators are included? what outcomes are measured? and which units of analysis (e.g., individuals, cities) are studied? We examined three of these four dimensions in a cross-sectional study of 496 of the 500 most populated US cities (total population size = 97,574,613, average population per city = 197,920). Spatial average models tested the effect of two greenspace measures (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index greenness and tree cover) on two outcomes (obesity and mental health), while adjusting for income, race and ethnicity, sprawl, age, sex, physical inactivity, median age of housing, and total population. We conducted analyses at the city scale, which is an understudied unit of analysis, and compared findings to individual- and neighborhood-level studies. In two of four models, greenspace was associated with better health. We found race and ethnicity moderated this relationship with varying results. In full sample analyses, cities with greater percentages of non-Hispanic Whites showed links between higher tree cover and lower obesity but marginal relationships between higher greenness and lower obesity. In subsample analyses with majority-non-Hispanic Black cities, higher tree cover was associated with lower obesity and better mental health. These findings advance previous research by showing that race and ethnicity moderate the greenspace—health link at the city level.
topic cities
greenspace
tree cover
obesity
mental health
income
race
ethnicity
sprawl
moderation
health disparities
url http://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/7/1541
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