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The good, the bad, and the environment: developing an area-based measure of access to health-promoting and health-constraining environments in New Zealand
- Source :
- International Journal of Health Geographics, Vol 20, Iss 1, Pp 1-20 (2021), International Journal of Health Geographics
- Publication Year :
- 2021
- Publisher :
- Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2021.
-
Abstract
- Background Accounting for the co-occurrence of multiple environmental influences is a more accurate reflection of population exposure than considering isolated influences, aiding in understanding the complex interactions between environments, behaviour and health. This study examines how environmental ‘goods’ such as green spaces and environmental ‘bads’ such as alcohol outlets co-occur to develop a nationwide area-level healthy location index (HLI) for New Zealand. Methods Nationwide data were collected, processed, and geocoded on a comprehensive range of environmental exposures. Health-constraining ‘bads’ were represented by: (i) fast-food outlets, (ii) takeaway outlets, (iii) dairy outlets and convenience stores, (iv) alcohol outlets, (v) and gaming venues. Health-promoting ‘goods’ were represented by: (i) green spaces, (ii) blue spaces, (iii) physical activity facilities, (iv) fruit and vegetable outlets, and (v) supermarkets. The HLI was developed based on ranked access to environmental domains. The HLI was then used to investigate socio-spatial patterning by area-level deprivation and rural/urban classification. Results Results showed environmental ‘goods’ and ‘bads’ co-occurred together and were patterned by area-level deprivation. The novel HLI shows that the most deprived areas of New Zealand often have the most environmental ‘bads’ and less access to environmental ‘goods’. Conclusions The index, that is now publicly available, is able to capture both inter-regional and local variations in accessibility to health-promoting and health-constraining environments and their combination. Results in this study further reinforce the need to embrace the multidimensional nature of neighbourhood and place not only when designing health-promoting places, but also when studying the effect of existing built environments on population health.
- Subjects :
- medicine.medical_specialty
Index (economics)
General Computer Science
Health geography
Population health
lcsh:Computer applications to medicine. Medical informatics
Health informatics
Food Supply
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
Residence Characteristics
Human geography
medicine
Humans
030212 general & internal medicine
Built Environment
Marketing
Natural environment
Neighbourhood (mathematics)
Built environment
030505 public health
business.industry
Research
Public health
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Accessibility
GIS
General Business, Management and Accounting
Food environment
Healthy cities
Health
lcsh:R858-859.7
Fast Foods
Environment Design
Business
0305 other medical science
New Zealand
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 1476072X
- Volume :
- 20
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- International Journal of Health Geographics
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....bb61e5ac2e2a37afcc78e4fc75739e9b