Exposure to green space boosts young children's bone mineral density

For children in early childhood, exposure to green space has a positive impact on bone health, according to a study published online Jan. 4 in JAMA Network Open.

Hanne Sleurs, from Hasselt University in Belgium, and colleagues investigated whether early-life exposure to residential surrounding green space is associated with a change in bone mineral density in young children. The analysis included mother-child pairs who were recruited at birth and followed for four to six years (327 children).

The researchers found that early-life exposure to residential green space was associated with increased childhood bone health. There was an association observed between an interquartile range (IQR) increase in total green (21.2 percent) and high green (19.9 percent) space within 500 m of the residence and an increase of 27.38 m/second and 25.30 m/second in bone mineral density, respectively.

An IQR increase in total (25.2 percent) and high (23.2 percent) green space within 1,000 m of a residence was associated with a lower risk for having a bone density lower than the sex-specific 10th percentile (3,567.6 m/second for girls and 3,522.8 m/second for boys).

"These findings highlight the importance of early-life exposure to residential green space on bone health during critical periods of growth and development, with long-term implications," the authors write.