IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v107y2014icp9-17.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does walking explain associations between access to greenspace and lower mortality?

Author

Listed:
  • Lachowycz, Kate
  • Jones, Andy P.

Abstract

Despite emerging evidence that access to greenspace is associated with longer life expectancy, little is understood about what causal mechanisms may explain this relationship. Based on social-ecological theories of health, greenspace has multifaceted potential to influence mortality but the potential alternative mediating pathways have not been empirically tested. This study evaluates relationships between access to greenspace, walking and mortality. Firstly, we test for an association between access to greenspace and self-reported levels of walking using a survey of 165,424 adults across England collected during 2007 and 2008. Negative binomial regression multilevel models were used to examine associations between greenspace access and self reported number of days walked in the last month, in total and for recreational and health purposes, after controlling for relevant confounders. Secondly we use an area level analysis of 6781 middle super output areas across England to examine if recreational walking mediates relationships between greenspace access and reduced premature mortality from circulatory disease. Results show clear evidence of better greenspace access being associated with higher reported recreational walking. There were between 13% and 18% more days of recreational walking in the greenest quintile compared with the least green after adjustment for confounders. Tests for mediation found no evidence that recreational walking explain the associations between greenspace and mortality. Futhermore, whilst the relationship between greenspace access and walking was observed for all areas, the relationship between greenspace access and reduced mortality was only apparent in the most deprived areas. These findings indicate that the association between greenspace and mortality, if causal, may be explained by mediators other than walking, such as psychosocial factors. Future research should concentrate on understanding the causal mechanisms underlying observed associations.

Suggested Citation

  • Lachowycz, Kate & Jones, Andy P., 2014. "Does walking explain associations between access to greenspace and lower mortality?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 9-17.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:107:y:2014:i:c:p:9-17
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.02.023
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953614001270
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.02.023?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sugiyama, T. & Francis, J. & Middleton, N.J. & Owen, N. & Giles-CortI, B., 2010. "Associations between recreational walking and attractiveness, size, and proximity of neighborhood open spaces," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 100(9), pages 1752-1757.
    2. Francis, Jacinta & Wood, Lisa J. & Knuiman, Matthew & Giles-Corti, Billie, 2012. "Quality or quantity? Exploring the relationship between Public Open Space attributes and mental health in Perth, Western Australia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(10), pages 1570-1577.
    3. Mitchell, Richard, 2013. "Is physical activity in natural environments better for mental health than physical activity in other environments?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 130-134.
    4. Panter, Jenna R. & Jones, Andrew P., 2008. "Associations between physical activity, perceptions of the neighbourhood environment and access to facilities in an English city," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(11), pages 1917-1923, December.
    5. West, Patrick & Reeder, Anthony I. & Milne, Barry J. & Poulton, Richie, 2002. "Worlds apart: a comparison between physical activities among youth in Glasgow, Scotland and Dunedin, New Zealand," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 54(4), pages 607-619, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Catharine Ward Thompson & Peter Aspinall & Jenny Roe & Lynette Robertson & David Miller, 2016. "Mitigating Stress and Supporting Health in Deprived Urban Communities: The Importance of Green Space and the Social Environment," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-24, April.
    2. Mireia Gascon & Margarita Triguero-Mas & David Martínez & Payam Dadvand & Joan Forns & Antoni Plasència & Mark J. Nieuwenhuijsen, 2015. "Mental Health Benefits of Long-Term Exposure to Residential Green and Blue Spaces: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-26, April.
    3. Sandifer, Paul A. & Sutton-Grier, Ariana E. & Ward, Bethney P., 2015. "Exploring connections among nature, biodiversity, ecosystem services, and human health and well-being: Opportunities to enhance health and biodiversity conservation," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 12(C), pages 1-15.
    4. Nooshin Razani & Dayna Long & Danielle Hessler & George W. Rutherford & Laura M. Gottlieb, 2020. "Screening for Park Access during a Primary Care Social Determinants Screen," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-9, April.
    5. Zulfikar Adamu & Oliver Hardy & Asya Natapov, 2023. "The Impact of Greenspace, Walking, and Cycling on the Health of Urban Residents during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Study of London," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(14), pages 1-21, July.
    6. Alessia Grigoletto & Mario Mauro & Francesco Campa & Alberto Loi & Maria Cristina Zambon & Marzia Bettocchi & Mark Nieuwenhuijsen & Laura Bragonzoni & Pasqualino Maietta Latessa & Stefania Toselli, 2021. "Attitudes towards Green Urban Space: A Case Study of Two Italian Regions," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(12), pages 1-21, June.
    7. Shixian Luo & Jing Xie & Katsunori Furuya, 2021. "“We Need such a Space”: Residents’ Motives for Visiting Urban Green Spaces during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-18, June.
    8. Alessia Grigoletto & Alberto Loi & Pasqualino Maietta Latessa & Sofia Marini & Natascia Rinaldo & Emanuela Gualdi-Russo & Luciana Zaccagni & Stefania Toselli, 2022. "Physical Activity Behavior, Motivation and Active Commuting: Relationships with the Use of Green Spaces in Italy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-15, July.
    9. Hanneke Kruize & Nina van der Vliet & Brigit Staatsen & Ruth Bell & Aline Chiabai & Gabriel Muiños & Sahran Higgins & Sonia Quiroga & Pablo Martinez-Juarez & Monica Aberg Yngwe & Fotis Tsichlas & Pani, 2019. "Urban Green Space: Creating a Triple Win for Environmental Sustainability, Health, and Health Equity through Behavior Change," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-22, November.
    10. Marcelo Enrique Conti & Massimo Battaglia & Mario Calabrese & Cristina Simone, 2021. "Fostering Sustainable Cities through Resilience Thinking: The Role of Nature-Based Solutions (NBSs): Lessons Learned from Two Italian Case Studies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-20, November.
    11. Benjamin D. S. Cartwright & Mathew P. White & Theodore J. Clitherow, 2018. "Nearby Nature ‘Buffers’ the Effect of Low Social Connectedness on Adult Subjective Wellbeing over the Last 7 Days," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-20, June.
    12. Maayan Yitshak-Sade & Peter James & Itai Kloog & Jaime E. Hart & Joel D. Schwartz & Francine Laden & Kevin J. Lane & M. Patricia Fabian & Kelvin C. Fong & Antonella Zanobetti, 2019. "Neighborhood Greenness Attenuates the Adverse Effect of PM 2.5 on Cardiovascular Mortality in Neighborhoods of Lower Socioeconomic Status," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-10, March.
    13. Matthew H. E. M. Browning & Alessandro Rigolon, 2018. "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," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-22, July.
    14. Elliott, Lewis R. & White, Mathew P. & Taylor, Adrian H. & Herbert, Stephen, 2015. "Energy expenditure on recreational visits to different natural environments," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 53-60.
    15. Alessandro Rigolon & Matthew H. E. M. Browning & Olivia McAnirlin & Hyunseo (Violet) Yoon, 2021. "Green Space and Health Equity: A Systematic Review on the Potential of Green Space to Reduce Health Disparities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-27, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Elliott, Lewis R. & White, Mathew P. & Taylor, Adrian H. & Herbert, Stephen, 2015. "Energy expenditure on recreational visits to different natural environments," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 53-60.
    2. Razieh Zandieh & Javier Martinez & Johannes Flacke, 2019. "Older Adults’ Outdoor Walking and Inequalities in Neighbourhood Green Spaces Characteristics," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-18, November.
    3. Sung-Kwon Hong & Sang-Woo Lee & Hyun-Kil Jo & Miyeon Yoo, 2019. "Impact of Frequency of Visits and Time Spent in Urban Green Space on Subjective Well-Being," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(15), pages 1-25, August.
    4. S. Brent Jackson & Kathryn T. Stevenson & Lincoln R. Larson & M. Nils Peterson & Erin Seekamp, 2021. "Outdoor Activity Participation Improves Adolescents’ Mental Health and Well-Being during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-18, March.
    5. Watanabe, Hajime & Maruyama, Takuya, 2024. "A Bayesian sample selection model with a binary outcome for handling residential self-selection in individual car ownership," Journal of choice modelling, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    6. Jiang, Wenhao & Stickley, Andrew & Ueda, Michiko, 2021. "Green space and suicide mortality in Japan: An ecological study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    7. Meryem Hayir-Kanat & Jürgen Breuste, 2019. "Which Natural Areas are Preferred for Recreation? An Investigation of the Most Popular Natural Resting Types for Istanbul," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-14, November.
    8. Xiaohu Zhang & Scott Melbourne & Chinmoy Sarkar & Alain Chiaradia & Chris Webster, 2020. "Effects of green space on walking: Does size, shape and density matter?," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(16), pages 3402-3420, December.
    9. Abdullah Addas & Ahmad Maghrabi, 2021. "Social Evaluation of Public Open Space Services and Their Impact on Well-Being: A Micro-Scale Assessment from a Coastal University," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-19, April.
    10. Colette Cunningham-Myrie & Katherine P Theall & Novie Younger-Coleman & Lisa-Gaye Greene & Parris Lyew-Ayee & Rainford Wilks, 2021. "Associations of neighborhood physical and crime environments with obesity-related outcomes in Jamaica," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(4), pages 1-19, April.
    11. LU, Yi & Zhao, Jianting & Wu, Xueying & Lo, Siu Ming, 2020. "Escaping to nature in pandemic: a natural experiment of COVID-19 in Asian cities," SocArXiv rq8sn, Center for Open Science.
    12. Amer Habibullah & Nawaf Alhajaj & Ahmad Fallatah, 2022. "One-Kilometer Walking Limit during COVID-19: Evaluating Accessibility to Residential Public Open Spaces in a Major Saudi City," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-16, October.
    13. Shixian Luo & Jing Xie & Katsunori Furuya, 2021. "“We Need such a Space”: Residents’ Motives for Visiting Urban Green Spaces during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-18, June.
    14. Jamie E L Spinney & Hugh Millward, 2013. "Investigating Travel Thresholds for Sports and Recreation Activities," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 40(3), pages 474-488, June.
    15. Annemarie Ruijsbroek & Sigrid M. Mohnen & Mariël Droomers & Hanneke Kruize & Christopher Gidlow & Regina Gražulevičiene & Sandra Andrusaityte & Jolanda Maas & Mark J. Nieuwenhuijsen & Margarita Trigue, 2017. "Neighbourhood green space, social environment and mental health: an examination in four European cities," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 62(6), pages 657-667, July.
    16. Eun Jung Kim & Hyunjung Kim, 2020. "Neighborhood Walkability and Housing Prices: A Correlation Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-18, January.
    17. Andrés Ried & María Jesús Monteagudo & Pelayo Benavides & Anne Le Bon & Stephanie Carmody & Rodrigo Santos, 2020. "Key Aspects of Leisure Experiences in Protected Wilderness Areas: Notions of Nature, Senses of Place and Perceived Benefits," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-18, April.
    18. Nurhayati Abdul MALEK & Amanina NASHAR, 2018. "Measuring Successfulness Of Malaysian Green Open Spaces: An Assessment Tool," Theoretical and Empirical Researches in Urban Management, Research Centre in Public Administration and Public Services, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 13(2), pages 21-37, May.
    19. Tahar Ledraa & Abdulaziz Aldegheishem, 2022. "What Matters Most for Neighborhood Greenspace Usability and Satisfaction in Riyadh: Size or Distance to Home?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-13, May.
    20. Meryem Hayir-Kanat & Jürgen Breuste, 2020. "Outdoor Recreation Participation in Istanbul, Turkey: An Investigation of Frequency, Length, Travel Time and Activities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-23, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:107:y:2014:i:c:p:9-17. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.