Promote Physical Health/Improve Health Outcomes

Recent research by a Gawryluk-lead team argues for keeping air clean.  The investigators “performed the first controlled human exposure study using functional MRI with an efficient order-randomized double-blind crossover study of diesel exhaust (DE) and control (filtered air; FA) in 25 healthy adults. . . . All 25 adults went through the exposures and functional MRI imaging were collected. Exposure to DE yielded a decrease in functional connectivity compared to exposure to FA, shown through the comparison of DE and FA in post-exposure measurement of functional connectivity.

Turunen and colleagues researched links between green and blue spaces and quality-of-life.  More specifically: “associations of the amounts of residential green and blue spaces within 1 km radius around the respondent’s home (based on the Urban Atlas 2012), green and blue views from home and green space visits with self-reported use of psychotropic (anxiolytics, hypnotics and antidepressants), antihypertensive and asthma medication were examined. . . . Amounts of residential green and blue spaces or green and blue views from home were not associated with medications.

Research on the benefits of gardening continues to accumulate.  Scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder report that “the first-ever, randomized, controlled trial of community gardening found that those who started gardening ate more fiber and got more physical activity—two known ways to reduce risk of cancer and chronic diseases. They also saw their levels of stress and anxiety significantly decrease. . . . those who came into the study most stressed and anxious seeing the greatest reduction in mental health issues.

Mustafa and Ali reviewed published studies to learn how workplace design can encourage people to use stairs instead of elevators.  They report that “safety, motivations, appeal and comfort, and legibility were the most common features in the studies, followed by connectivity, building codes, and elevator programming. The good quality of mentioned features positively affects stair use level and vice versa. . . . Safety of stairs includes 3 categories; Maintenance, Natural surveillance, stair dimensional, and provision of the railing.

Dang and team studied how people spend time on green roofs.  They report that their research focused on a green roof space in Sydney, Australia which included “a garden, a concrete open space and a raised grass area amounting to 1,200 m2, [that] is above parts of the university’s library and classrooms, and is easily accessible by staff, students, and members of the public. . . . users, most commonly, relaxed or socialised on the green roof, with exercise a far less frequent activity.

A study published in the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (Diabetologia) will support better management of outdoor artificial light at night (LAN) and actions such as using black-out curtains in bedrooms. Yu and colleagues determined that LAN “is associated with impaired blood glucose control and an increased risk of diabetes. . . .