Proximity to green spaces near the home is associated with a higher newborn weight and lower chances of low birth weight. This is the conclusion of the study in which a team from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) participated from a sample of more than 69,600 neonates.
The study carried out in nine European countries, including Spain, and published in the journal Environment Internationalhas evaluated the associations of maternal exposure to green and blue spaces (rivers, sea, and lakes) during pregnancy and newborn weight in eleven birth cohorts.
The work has been based on a sample of 69,683 newborns with an average birth weight of 3.42 kilograms and of which 6.6% were classified as small for gestational age babies, also called SGA.
EFE/Orlando Barriaseven indicators
Seven indicators of residential exposure to natural environments have been calculated for each participant: green space 100, 300 and 500 meters from the home -calculated using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)-; distance to the nearest green space; accessibility to green space; distance to the nearest blue space; and accessibility to the blue space.
The results have indicated that the proximity of green spaces to the home is associated with a higher birth weight, while a greater distance to this type of natural environment was associated with a lower and higher probabilities of SGA.
Associations for accessibility to green spaces and exposure and accessibility to “blue spaces” were almost nil.
Ensuring healthy fetal growth
For the first author of the study, María Torresensuring healthy fetal growth “is essential to prevent many adverse health consequences, both early and later in life.”
In this sense, Torres gives as an example that babies with low birth weight or small for gestational age “could have a greater risk of growth problems, lower intelligence quotient and premature death in childhood, as well as obesity, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes in adulthood.
The researchers have also evaluated the possible effect modification by socioeconomic status and European region: the results indicate stronger associations between residential green spaces and higher birth weights for those with lower educational levels, coming from more deprived areas. and residents in Northern Europe.
According to ISGGlobalthe conclusions of the study are “in line” with previous research from various parts of the world, and that is that more and more studies have shown a relationship between maternal exposure to green spaces and a higher birth weight.
However, most of them have been carried out in a single country with a given climate and vegetation type, and estimates of the effect have differed from region to region.
A study related to the weight of the newborn that sheds light
On this, the ISGlobal researcher and autor senior del estudio, Payam Dadvandassures that the capitalization of the data of eleven birth cohorts from all over Europe has allowed them to evaluate “for the first time, this association in different countries and shed light on the role of the region in this matter”.
In this way, the authors maintain that the results support policies that promote natural environments in cities, “starting with the most disadvantaged areas.
People from the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Denmark, France, Spain, Lithuania, Norway, Italy and Greece have participated in the research.