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Volume 5, Issue 2 (Suppl)

Occup Med Health Aff, an open access journal

ISSN: 2329-6879

Environmental Health 2017

September 7-8, 2017

September 7-8, 2017 | Paris, France

Environmental Health & Global Climate Change

2

nd

International Conference on

THE INFLUENCE OF URBAN GREEN SPACES AND SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT ON

PRESCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN OVERWEIGHT

Sandra Andrusaityte

a

, Regina Grazuleviciene

a

and

Inga Petraviciene

a

a

Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania

Background:

Recent research has found that residential environment can have impacts on child development and body mass

index (1-3), however, the available evidence of simultaneous investigating the associations of low socioeconomic status and

residential green spaces with childhood obesity is scarce (4-6). The aim of this study was to assess the associations between

urban green spaces, social environment and risk for overweight/obesity among 4−6 year old children.

Methods:

This epidemiological study included 1,489 Kaunas children followed-up from birth. Body mass index (BMI) was

evaluated according to International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) criteria for children. We compared two child’s BMI groups: The

overweight/obesity group (BMI ≥18 kg/m2) and the reference group (BMI <18 kg/m2). Individual exposure to greenness levels

was assigned as the average of satellite-derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) of each participant home, and

residential distance to nearest City Park was assessed by GIS. We used logistic regression models to estimate associations as

odds ratios (OR).

Results:

About 7.5%of the 4–6 aged childrenwere overweight/obese.The lower neighborhood greenness exposure (NDVI-100m<median)

during pregnancy and over 4 years was associated with increased children’s overweight/obesity risk. Low maternal education, smoking,

and sedentary behavior were also statistically significant risk factors associated with children’s overweight/obesity in the univariate and

multivariate models. Children from lower SES families residing in low greenness exposure area had 3-fold increased risk of overweight/

obesity.

Conclusion:

Low residential greenness exposure of low SES families is associated with increase the risk of overweight/obesity

in preschool-age children. The usage of city green spaces for increasing physical activity has been recommended as a measure

to prevent overweight/obesity among children.

Biography

Sandra Andrusaityte is working as a researcher in Department of Environmental Sciences Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania. For the last 5 years she has

been involved in the epidemiological research of studding environmental exposure impacts on human health. In 2015 she gained a Doctor’s degree in Biomedical

sciences, Ecology and Environmental sciences. She is trained as an Epidemiologist and Biostatistician in the Emory Health and Exposome Research Center in

Atlanta, USA. Her Areas of research are Biomedical Sciences, Environmental Epidemiology, Public Health, focusing on impact of natural environment and social

environment on children health. She has been involved in the EC 7FP projects: PHENOTYPE and HELIX.

sandra.andrusaityte@vdu.lt

Sandra Andrusaityte et al., Occup Med Health Aff 2017, 5:2(Suppl)

DOI: 10.4172/2329-6879-C1-032