Residential greenspace and lung function throughout childhood and adolescence in five European birth cohorts. A CADSET initiative
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Whether greenspace affects lung function is unclear. We explored associations between the level of greenness or presence of urban green space near the home with lung function measures taken repeatedly during childhood and adolescence in five European birth cohorts.
Lung function was measured by spirometry between six and 22 years (2–3 times), and 9,206 participants from BAMSE (Sweden), GINI/LISA South and GINI/LISA North (Germany), PIAMA (The Netherlands) and INMA (Spain) contributed at least one lung function measurement. The mean Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) in a 300 m buffer and presence of urban green space within a 300 m buffer (yes/no) were estimated at the home address at the time of each spirometry measurement. Cohort-specific associations were assessed using adjusted linear mixed models and combined in a random-effects meta-analysis.
Residential greenness was not associated with forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC) or FEV1/FVC in the meta-analysis (2.3 ml [-3.2, 7.9], 6.2 ml [-3.4, 15.7] and −0.1 [-0.3, 0.1] per 0.1 increase in NDVI, respectively), nor was having a nearby urban green space (−8.6 ml [–22.3, 5.0], −7.6 ml [-24.7, 9.4] and 0.0 [-0.4, 0.3], respectively). Heterogeneity was low to moderate (I2 = 0 –39 %). Asthma, atopy, air pollution, sex, socioeconomic status and urbanization did not modify the null associations.
Using repeated data from five large independent European birth cohorts, we did not find associations between vegetation levels around the home or the presence of an urban green space and lung function levels during childhood and adolescence.
Lung function was measured by spirometry between six and 22 years (2–3 times), and 9,206 participants from BAMSE (Sweden), GINI/LISA South and GINI/LISA North (Germany), PIAMA (The Netherlands) and INMA (Spain) contributed at least one lung function measurement. The mean Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) in a 300 m buffer and presence of urban green space within a 300 m buffer (yes/no) were estimated at the home address at the time of each spirometry measurement. Cohort-specific associations were assessed using adjusted linear mixed models and combined in a random-effects meta-analysis.
Residential greenness was not associated with forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC) or FEV1/FVC in the meta-analysis (2.3 ml [-3.2, 7.9], 6.2 ml [-3.4, 15.7] and −0.1 [-0.3, 0.1] per 0.1 increase in NDVI, respectively), nor was having a nearby urban green space (−8.6 ml [–22.3, 5.0], −7.6 ml [-24.7, 9.4] and 0.0 [-0.4, 0.3], respectively). Heterogeneity was low to moderate (I2 = 0 –39 %). Asthma, atopy, air pollution, sex, socioeconomic status and urbanization did not modify the null associations.
Using repeated data from five large independent European birth cohorts, we did not find associations between vegetation levels around the home or the presence of an urban green space and lung function levels during childhood and adolescence.
Date Issued
2025-05-01
Date Acceptance
2025-04-22
Citation
Environment International, 2025, 199
ISSN
0160-4120
Publisher
Elsevier
Journal / Book Title
Environment International
Volume
199
Copyright Statement
© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
License URL
Identifier
10.1016/j.envint.2025.109493
Subjects
ALSPAC, Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children
BAMSE, Children, Allergy, Milieu, Stockholm, Epidemiological Survey
CADSET, Chronic airway diseases early stratification
FEV 1 , Forced expiratory Adolescence Children Cohort Greenspace Greenness Lung function
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
109493
Date Publish Online
2025-04-25