SynthesisInternational journal of environmental research and public health2020
A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Associations between Green and Blue Spaces and Birth Outcomes.
Synthesis in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 42 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
42 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 110 citations in OpenAlex.
- Residential greenness and birth outcomes: evidence for reduced low birth weight from an umbrella review and harmonized normalized difference vegetation index synthesis.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- Green spaces, blue spaces and human health: an updated umbrella review of epidemiological meta-analyses.Frontiers in public health · 2025Pooled it
- Greenspace exposure and associated health outcomes: a systematic review of reviews.F1000Research · 2024Pooled it
- Green Space Quality and Health: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- Green Space and Health in Mainland China: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- Green Space and Health Equity: A Systematic Review on the Potential of Green Space to Reduce Health Disparities.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- The Impact of Outdoor Physical Activities on the Health of Pregnant Women: A Scoping Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Heat during Pregnancy and Reduced Fetal Growth: Critical Windows of Exposure and the Intertwined Role of Air Pollution, Vegetation, and Social Stressors.Environmental science & technology · 2026Article
- Neighborhood built environment, psychosocial stressors, and telomere length of birth parents and their newborns from San Francisco, California.Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology · 2026Article
- Prenatal greenness, air pollution, and birthweight: Assessing sensitive windows of exposure and sub-populations in a multi-exposure setting.Environment international · 2026Article
- Dutch nationwide registry study to identify spatial, contextual and environmental inequalities in birth outcomes.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- Prenatal exposure to residential greenness, fetal growth, and birth outcomes: a cohort study in New York City.American journal of epidemiology · 2025Article
- Associations between neighborhood greenery and birth outcomes in a North Carolina cohort.Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology · 2025Article
- Article
- Identifying the critical windows and joint effects of greenness and particulate matter exposures for preterm birth: a retrospective study across Guangdong Province in China from 2014 to 2018.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Associations of prenatal exposure to residential greenspace and active living environments with cerebral palsy: A population-based cohort study in Ontario, Canada.Environmental epidemiology (Philadelphia, Pa.) · 2025Article
- Greenspace Morphology and Preterm Birth: A State-Wide Study in Georgia, United States (2001-2016).Environmental health perspectives · 2024Article
- Advancing research on greenspace and climate-sensitive adverse birth outcomes for equity and impact.Environmental epidemiology (Philadelphia, Pa.) · 2024Article
- Establishing a Multifaceted Comprehensive Maternity Cohort Facilitates Understanding of How Environmental Exposures Impact Perinatal Health.Environment & health (Washington, D.C.) · 2024Review
- Exploring the equitable inclusion of diverse voices in urban green design, planning and policy development: a scoping review protocol.BMJ open · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Previous studies suggest that green and blue spaces may promote several health outcomes including birth outcomes. However, no synthesis of previous work has specifically asked policy-relevant questions of how much and what type is needed in every neighborhood to elicit these benefits at the population level. A systematic review and meta-analyses were conducted to synthesize thirty-seven studies on the association between residential green and blue spaces and pregnancy outcomes. Meta-analyses were performed for birth weight (BW), small for gestational age (SGA), low birth weight (LBW) and preterm birth (PTB). Increase in residential greenness was statistically significantly associated with higher BW [β = 0.001, 95%CI: (<0.001, 0.002)] and lower odds of SGA [OR = 0.95, 95%CI: (0.92, 0.97)]. Associations between green space and LBW and PTB were as hypothesized but not statistically significant. Associations between blue spaces and pregnancy outcomes were not evident. No study explicitly examined questions of threshold, though some evidence of nonlinearity indicated that moderate amounts of green space may support more favorable pregnancy outcomes. Policy-relevant green and blue space exposures involving theory-driven thresholds warrant testing to ensure future investments in urban greening promote healthier pregnancy outcomes.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.