Surrounding greenness and birth weight: results from the GINIplus and LISAplus birth cohorts in Munich

Iana Markevych; Elaine Fuertes; Carla M T Tiesler; Matthias Birk; Carl-Peter Bauer; Sibylle Koletzko; Andrea von Berg; Dietrich Berdel; Joachim Heinrich

doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2013.12.001

Surrounding greenness and birth weight: results from the GINIplus and LISAplus birth cohorts in Munich

Health Place. 2014 Mar:26:39-46. doi: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2013.12.001. Epub 2013 Dec 12.

Authors

Iana Markevych¹, Elaine Fuertes², Carla M T Tiesler³, Matthias Birk⁴, Carl-Peter Bauer⁵, Sibylle Koletzko⁶, Andrea von Berg⁷, Dietrich Berdel⁷, Joachim Heinrich⁸

Affiliations

¹ Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Centre for Environmental Health, Institute of Epidemiology I, Ingolstädter Landstr. 1, Neuherberg D-85764, Germany; Institute and Outpatient Clinic for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Inner City Clinic, University Hospital of Munich (LMU), Munich, Germany.
² Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Centre for Environmental Health, Institute of Epidemiology I, Ingolstädter Landstr. 1, Neuherberg D-85764, Germany; School of Population and Public Health, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
³ Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Centre for Environmental Health, Institute of Epidemiology I, Ingolstädter Landstr. 1, Neuherberg D-85764, Germany; Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Institute for Medical Informatics, Biometrics and Epidemiology, Munich, Germany.
⁴ Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Centre for Environmental Health, Institute of Epidemiology I, Ingolstädter Landstr. 1, Neuherberg D-85764, Germany.
⁵ Department of Paediatrics, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
⁶ Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Dr. von Hauner Children's Hospital, Division of Paediatric Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Munich, Germany.
⁷ Marien-Hospital Wesel, Department of Paediatrics, Wesel, Germany.
⁸ Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Centre for Environmental Health, Institute of Epidemiology I, Ingolstädter Landstr. 1, Neuherberg D-85764, Germany. Electronic address: heinrich@helmholtz-muenchen.de.

PMID: 24361636
DOI: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2013.12.001

Abstract

Aim: We investigated the association between surrounding greenness at the mother's residential address at the time of delivery and birth weight in two German birth cohorts and explored potential underlying hypotheses.

Methods: Complete data on 3203 newborns, recruited in Munich between 1996 and 1999, were available. Surrounding greenness was defined using the mean of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, which was derived from Landsat 5TM satellite images.

Results: An interquartile increase of surrounding greenness in a 500-m buffer was associated with an average birth weight increase of 17.6g (95% CI=0.5 to 34.6). The effect strengthened after individual adjustment for NO2, PM2.5, distance to major road and population density. The strongest association was found for mothers with less than 10 years of school education. The results remained robust when additionally adjusted for noise or maternal stress during pregnancy. Neighbourhood green spaces were not associated with birth weight.

Conclusions: Surrounding greenness at the birth address was positively associated with birth weight in two birth cohorts in Munich. The mechanisms driving this association remain unclear and warrant further investigation.

Keywords: Birth weight; Green space; Greenness; NDVI; Pregnancy outcomes.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Birth Weight*
Cohort Studies
Environment*
Female
Germany
Humans
Infant, Newborn
Pregnancy