Holistic approach to assess the association between the synergistic effect of physical activity, exposure to greenspace, and fruits and vegetable intake on health and wellbeing: Cross-sectional analysis of UK Biobank

Abstract

Background: Urban agriculture has been shown to contribute to healthy lifestyle behaviors, such as increased fruit and vegetable intake and greater exposure to greenspaces and there is plenty of evidence linking these lifestyle behaviors to better health and wellbeing. However, most evidence relates to assessing one behavior at a time despite available epidemiological research showing how the combined effects of multiple behaviors are associated with health and wellbeing. This research aims to examine the association of the interactions between various lifestyle behaviors and exposures related to urban agriculture and health and wellbeing.

Methods: We used data from the UK Biobank baseline questionnaire (N~500, 000) to assess the association of two lifestyle behaviors (fruit and vegetable intake and physical activity) and greenspace exposure, with four health and wellbeing markers (blood pressure, BMI, self-health assessment, and self-reported loneliness) independently, and in combination. Associations between lifestyle behaviors, greenspace exposure, and the possible interactions with health and wellbeing were explored using general linear models (GLMs), adjusted for socio-demographic confounders including age, sex, educational qualifications, index of multiple deprivation, and ethnicity, and a lifestyle confounder: smoking status.

Results: After removing missing data, as well as participants who did not meet the inclusion criteria, the final study sample was n = 204,478. The results indicate that meeting recommended levels of the World Health Organization (WHO) for fruits and vegetable intake, and the advice from the UK Chief Medical Officer for physical activity, is linked to better health and wellbeing markers. We found that UK Biobank participants who lived in greener areas and were physically active were more likely to feel alone and think their health was poor. Participants who were physically active and met the recommended intake of fruits and vegetables were more likely to have healthy blood pressure, feel less lonely, and rate their health as good. Evidence of three-way interactions was weak, and mostly was not associated with the health and wellbeing markers assessed here.

Conclusion: Taken in combination, healthy diets, physical activity and exposure to greenspaces are associated with health and wellbeing. In some cases, these effects are synergistic, indicating associations above and beyond the mere additive effect of the behaviors considered independently. Promoting such behaviors together, for example, through urban agriculture, is therefore more likely to generate greater public health changes than if they are promoted through independent policies and programs. Inter-relationships between these pathways and different health and wellbeing markers, however, are complex, and require further investigation to understand optimal environments and conditions for urban health promotion.

Keywords: greenspace; health and wellbeing; lifestyle behaviors; physical activity; synergies.