Residential Proximity to Urban Play Spaces and Childhood Overweight and Obesity in Barcelona, Spain: A Population-Based Longitudinal Study

Nacho Sánchez-Valdivia (), Carmen Pérez-del-Pulgar, Jeroen de Bont, Isabelle Anguelovski, Antonio López-Gay, Andrea Pistillo, Margarita Triguero-Mas () and Talita Duarte-Salles
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Nacho Sánchez-Valdivia: Barcelona Lab for Urban Environmental Justice and Sustainability, Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08003 Barcelona, Spain
Carmen Pérez-del-Pulgar: Barcelona Lab for Urban Environmental Justice and Sustainability, Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08003 Barcelona, Spain
Jeroen de Bont: Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden
Isabelle Anguelovski: Barcelona Lab for Urban Environmental Justice and Sustainability, Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08003 Barcelona, Spain
Antonio López-Gay: Department of Geography, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193 Barcelona, Spain
Andrea Pistillo: Fundació Institut Universitari per a la Recerca a l’Atenció Primària de Salut Jordi Gol i Gurina (IDIAPJGol), 08007 Barcelona, Spain
Margarita Triguero-Mas: Barcelona Lab for Urban Environmental Justice and Sustainability, Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08003 Barcelona, Spain
Talita Duarte-Salles: Fundació Institut Universitari per a la Recerca a l’Atenció Primària de Salut Jordi Gol i Gurina (IDIAPJGol), 08007 Barcelona, Spain

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 20, 1-16

Abstract: Findings on the relationship between play spaces and childhood overweight and obesity are mixed and scarce. This study aimed to investigate the associations between residential proximity to play spaces and the risk of childhood overweight or obesity and potential effect modifiers. This longitudinal study included children living in the city of Barcelona identified in an electronic primary healthcare record database between 2011 and 2018 (N = 75,608). Overweight and obesity were defined according to the WHO standards and we used 300 m network buffers to assess residential proximity to play spaces. We calculated the risk of developing overweight or obesity using Cox proportional hazard models. A share of 29.4% of the study population developed overweight or obesity, but we did not find consistent associations between play space indicators and overweight or obesity. We did not find any consistent sign of effect modification by sex, and only some indications of the modifying role of area socioeconomic status and level of exposure. Although it is not possible to draw clear conclusions from our study, we call for cities to continue increasing and improving urban play spaces with an equitable, healthy, and child-friendly perspective.

Keywords: urban health; built environment; childhood; overweight; obesity; body mass index; play space; playground; park (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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