Abstract
The residential green space environment plays a significant role in the progression of social, neuropsychological, behavioral, and public health. Green spaces are considered one of the most important components of healthy life events. This study investigated the impact of the green space environment on the prevalence and mortality of type 2 diabetes mellitus.
In this study, 110 research articles were initially identified through search engines (Web of Science, Pub-Med, Medline, EMBASE, Scopus) using the keywords "green space, environment, prevalence, mortality, diabetes mellitus." Finally, out of 110, 16 (14.54%) original research publications were included in the analysis, and the remaining 94 (85.45%) articles were excluded. The sample size of these 16 studies was 4,615,359. These studies originated from China (4), Canada (3), the United States of America (2), Australia (2), and one study each from the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Korea, Belgium, and Bangladesh. The data on prevalence and diabetes mellitus were recorded and analyzed.
Worldwide total of 16 studies met the selection criteria. The results showed that a high green space environment was significantly associated with a decreased prevalence of diabetes mellitus (13 studies; OR=0.875, 95% CI=0.859-0.891; p<0.001; I2=61.0%) and mortality (3 studies; HR=0.917, 95% CI=0.904-0.930; p<0.001; I2=75.4%). The findings support the hypothesis that a green space environment significantly reduces the prevalence and mortality of diabetes mellitus.
The residential green space environment significantly decreases the prevalence and mortality of type 2 diabetes mellitus. It is suggested to establish strategies to keep residential areas and living environment green and clean to minimize air pollution and fight diabetes mellitus.