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Despite reported health benefits of urban greenspace (gs), the epidemiological evidence is less clear for allergic disease. To address a limitation of previous research, we examined the associations of medium- and high-resolution residential gs measures and tree and/or grass canopies with allergic outcomes for children enrolled in the longitudinal cincinnati childhood allergy and air pollution study (ccaaps). We estimated residential gs based on 400 m radial buffers around participant addresses (n = 478) using the normalized differential vegetation index (ndvi) and land cover-derived urban greenspace (ugs) (tree and grass coverage, combined and separate) at 30 m and 1.5–2.5 m resolution, respectively. Associations between outdoor aeroallergen sensitization and allergic rhinitis at age 7 and residential gs measures at different exposure windows were examined using multivariable logistic regression models. A 10% increase in ugs-derived grass coverage was associated with an increased risk of sensitization to grass pollens (adjusted odds ratio [aor]: 1.27; 95% confidence interval = 1.02–1.58). For each 10% increase in ugs-derived tree canopy coverage, nonstatistically significant decreased odds were found for grass pollen sensitization, tree pollen sensitization, and sensitization to either (aor range = 0.87–0.94). Results similar in magnitude to ugs-tree canopy coverage were detected for ndvi and allergic sensitizations. High-resolution (down to 1.5 m) gs measures of grass- and tree-covered areas showed associations in opposite directions for different allergy outcomes. These data suggest that measures strongly correlated with tree canopy (e.g., ndvi) may be insufficient to detect health effects associated with proximity to different types of vegetation or help elucidate mechanisms related to specific gs exposure pathways.

Background While benefits of greenness to health have been reported, findings specific to child respiratory health are inconsistent. Methods We utilized a prospective birth cohort followed from birth to age 7 years (n = 617). Residential surrounding greenness was quantified via Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) within 200, 400, and 800 m distances from geocoded home addresses at birth, age 7 years, and across childhood. Respiratory health outcomes were assessed at age 7 years, including asthma and lung function [percent predicted forced expiratory volume in the first second (%FEV1), percent predicted forced vital capacity (%FVC), and percent predicted ratio of forced expiratory volume in the first second to forced vital capacity (%FEV1/FVC)]. We assessed associations using linear and logistic regression models adjusted for community deprivation, household income, and traffic-related air pollution. We tested for effect measure modification by atopic status. Results We noted evidence of positive confounding as inverse associations were attenuated upon adjustment in the multivariable models. We found evidence of effect measure modification of NDVI and asthma within 400 m at age 7 years by atopic status (p = 0.04), whereby children sensitized to common allergens were more likely to develop asthma as exposure to greenness increased (OR = 1.3, 95% CI: 0.9, 2.0) versus children not sensitized to common allergens (OR = 0.8, 95% CI: 0.5, 1.2). We found consistently positive associations between NDVI and %FEV1 and %FVC which similarly evidenced positive confounding upon adjustment. In the adjusted regression models, NDVI at 7 years of age was associated with %FEV1 (200 m: β = 2.1, 95% CI: 0.1, 3.3; 400 m: β = 1.6, 95% CI: 0.3, 2.9) and %FVC (200 m: β = 1.8, 95% CI: 0.7, 3.0; 400 m: β = 1.6, 95% CI: 0.3, 2.8; 800 m: β = 1.5, 95% CI: 0.1, 2.8). Adjusted results for %FEV1/FVC were non-significant except exposure at birth in the 400 m buffer (β = 0.81, 95% CI: 0.1, 1.5). We found no evidence of effect measure modification of NDVI by atopic status for objective measures of lung function. Conclusion Sensitivity to allergens may modify the effect of greenness on risk for asthma in children but greenness is likely beneficial for concurrent lung function regardless of allergic status.

Publicly available, outdoor webcams continuously view the world and share images. These cameras include traffic cams, campus cams, ski-resort cams, etc. The Archive of Many Outdoor Scenes (AMOS) is a project aiming to geolocate, annotate, archive, and visualize these cameras and images to serve as a resource for a wide variety of scientific applications. The AMOS dataset has archived over 750 million images of outdoor environments from 27,000 webcams since 2006. Our goal is to utilize the AMOS image dataset and crowdsourcing to develop reliable and valid tools to improve physical activity assessment via online, outdoor webcam capture of global physical activity patterns and urban built environment characteristics.

Results and figures of the article by Adlakha et al. (2014) contained minor errors, which we hereby rectify. Results show that a large majority of running and walking routes were through or tangential to a park or green space. A total of 1,722.01 miles from 287 running routes and 236.84 miles from 71 walking routes appear in Figure ​Figure11 and Table ​Table1.1. The average lengths of a run and walk in this sample were 6.00 and 3.33 miles, respectively. Of all the parks in the study area, 70% were located in low-income neighborhoods. Of the 287 running routes, 80.80% traversed a park at some point during the run and 6.97% of these runs took place in parks located in low-SES neighborhoods. Of the 71 walking routes, 70.40% traversed a park at some point during the walk and 15.50% of walking routes occurred in parks located in low-SES neighborhoods. Figure ​Figure22 illustrates the availability of many parks across St. Louis, but shows fewer mapped running or walking routes in the northern half of the region that features more low-SES neighborhoods. Figure 1 Running routes, walking routes, and poverty rate in St. Louis, MO, USA. Table 1 Use of parks in St. Louis, MO for physical activity in 2012a. Figure 2 Running and walking routes in parks and poverty rate in St. Louis, MO, USA. The odds of reported running and walking routes traversing low-SES neighborhoods were significantly lower than the odds of running and walking routes reported in higher-SES neighborhoods (runs: OR = 0.36, CI = 0.21–0.62; walks: OR = 0.41, CI = 0.23–0.73) (Table ​(Table2).2). The odds of running in a park in a low-SES neighborhood were 52% lower than running in a park in a higher-SES neighborhood (OR = 0.48, CI = 0.29–0.79). The odds of walking reported in a park in a low-SES neighborhood were 64% lower than walking in a park in a higher-SES neighborhood (OR = 0.36, CI = 0.16–0.82). Table 2 Logistic regression: odds of running and walking in a low-SES neighborhood (N = 238) and park (N = 511), compared to higher-SES neighborhoods. Revised results indicate decreased odds of reported running and walking in low-SES St. Louis neighborhoods compared to higher-SES St. Louis neighborhoods (Table ​(Table1).1). This finding is consistent with the disparate rates of PA in low versus higher-SES areas (1, 2). Overall, the lower odds of reported running and walking in low-SES neighborhoods and parks located in these low-SES neighborhoods compared to higher-SES neighborhoods and parks corroborates several health and environmental disparities between north and south St. Louis.

In light of the obesity epidemic, there is growing interest in the use of financial incentives for dietary behavior change. Previous reviews of the literature have focused on randomized, controlled trials and found mixed results. The purpose of this systematic review is to update and expand upon previous reviews by considering a broader range of study designs, including RCTs, quasi-experimental, observational, and simulation studies testing the use of financial incentives to change dietary behavior and to inform both dietetic practice and research. The review was guided by theoretical consideration of the type of incentive used based upon the principles of operant conditioning. There was further examination of whether studies were carried out with an institutional focus and whether incentives took the form of assets or savings. Studies published between 2006 and 2012 were selected for review, and data were extracted regarding study population, intervention design, outcome measures, study duration and follow-up, and key findings. Twelve studies meeting selection criteria were reviewed, with eleven finding a positive association between incentives and dietary behavior change in the short-term. All studies pointed to more specific information on the type, timing, and magnitude of incentives needed to motivate individuals to change behavior, the types of incentives and disincentives most likely to affect the behavior of various socioeconomic groups, and promising approaches for potential policy and practice innovations. Limitations of studies are noted, including the lack of theoretical guidance in the selection of incentive structures and the absence of basic experimental data. Future research should consider these factors even as policymakers and practitioners continue to experiment with this potentially useful approach to addressing obesity.

The Archive of Many Outdoor Scenes has captured 400 million images. Many of these cameras and images are of street intersections, a subset of which has experienced built environment improvements during the past seven years. We identified six cameras in Washington, DC, and uploaded 120 images from each before a built environment change (2007) and after (2010) to the crowdsourcing website Amazon Mechanical Turk (n=1,440). Five unique MTurk workers annotated each image, counting the number of pedestrians, cyclists, and vehicles. Two trained Research Assistants completed the same tasks. Reliability and validity statistics of MTurk workers revealed substantial agreement in annotating captured images of pedestrians and vehicles. Using the mean annotation of four MTurk workers proved most parsimonious for valid results. Crowdsourcing was shown to be a reliable and valid workforce for annotating images of outdoor human behavior.