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Effect of Residential Greenness and Nearby Parks on Respiratory and Allergic Diseases among Middle School Adolescents in a Chinese City

Author

Listed:
  • Linyan Li

    (Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02215, USA)

  • Jaime E. Hart

    (Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02215, USA
    Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA)

  • Brent A. Coull

    (Department of Biostatistics, Harvard School T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA)

  • Shi-jie Cao

    (Academy of Building Energy Efficiency, School of Civil Engineering, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China)

  • John D. Spengler

    (Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02215, USA)

  • Gary Adamkiewicz

    (Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02215, USA)

Abstract

Research on the health impacts of green environments has mainly been conducted in developed countries. Differences in the urban forms between China and Western countries make it essential to understand the role of greenspace in Chinese settings. From 2014 to 2015, middle school students ( n = 5643) in Suzhou, China were enrolled in a study on the health effect of residential greenness. The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and distance to the nearest park were calculated for each home address. Logistic regression was performed to test associations between exposure and self-reported doctor diagnoses of asthma, pneumonia, rhinitis, and eczema, adjusting for important confounders. No statistically significant associations were observed for any seasonal NDVI-based measures. However, the proximity of the participants’ residences to the closest park showed an inverse relationship to reported symptoms. The odds ratios for the furthest quartile compared to the closest quartile based on the distance to the nearest park were 0.58 (95% CI: 0.35, 0.99), 0.70 (95% CI: 0.50, 0.96), 0.92 (95% CI: 0.74, 1.15), 0.97 (95% CI: 0.76, 1.24), 0.86 (95% CI: 0.68, 1.10) for current asthma, ever asthma, ever pneumonia, ever rhinitis, and ever eczema, respectively. These findings focused on a single Chinese city and suggest that exposure to natural vegetation in urban areas may affect health through various pathways.

Suggested Citation

  • Linyan Li & Jaime E. Hart & Brent A. Coull & Shi-jie Cao & John D. Spengler & Gary Adamkiewicz, 2019. "Effect of Residential Greenness and Nearby Parks on Respiratory and Allergic Diseases among Middle School Adolescents in a Chinese City," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-11, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:6:p:991-:d:215263
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Mei-Po Kwan, 2018. "The Limits of the Neighborhood Effect: Contextual Uncertainties in Geographic, Environmental Health, and Social Science Research," Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 108(6), pages 1482-1490, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Giulia Squillacioti & Valeria Bellisario & Stefano Levra & Pavilio Piccioni & Roberto Bono, 2019. "Greenness Availability and Respiratory Health in a Population of Urbanised Children in North-Western Italy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-11, December.
    2. Marcia P. Jimenez & Nicole V. DeVille & Elise G. Elliott & Jessica E. Schiff & Grete E. Wilt & Jaime E. Hart & Peter James, 2021. "Associations between Nature Exposure and Health: A Review of the Evidence," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-19, April.
    3. Nipuni Nilakshini Wimalasena & Alice Chang-Richards & Kevin I-Kai Wang & Kim N. Dirks, 2021. "Housing Risk Factors Associated with Respiratory Disease: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-24, March.
    4. Hania Rahimi-Ardabili & Thomas Astell-Burt & Phi-Yen Nguyen & Juan Zhang & Yu Jiang & Guang-Hui Dong & Xiaoqi Feng, 2021. "Green Space and Health in Mainland China: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-22, September.

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