Distance to Natural Environments, Physical Activity, Sleep, and Body Composition in Women: An Exploratory Analysis

Andreia Teixeira; Ronaldo Gabriel; José Martinho; Irene Oliveira; Mário Santos; Graça Pinto; Helena Moreira

doi:10.3390/ijerph20043647

Distance to Natural Environments, Physical Activity, Sleep, and Body Composition in Women: An Exploratory Analysis

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Feb 18;20(4):3647. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20043647.

Authors

Andreia Teixeira¹, Ronaldo Gabriel^{1

2}, José Martinho³, Irene Oliveira^{2

4

5}, Mário Santos^{2

6

7}, Graça Pinto^{1

8}, Helena Moreira^{1

2

8}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Sports Science, Exercise and Health, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal.
² Centre for the Research and Technology of Agro-Environmental and Biological Sciences (CITAB), Institute for Innovation, Capacity Building and Sustainability of Agri-Food Production (Inov4Agro), University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal.
³ Department of Geology, Geociencies Centre (CGeo), University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal.
⁴ Department of Mathematics, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal.
⁵ Center for Computational and Stochastic Mathematics (CEMAT-IST), Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal.
⁶ Laboratory of Fluvial and Terrestrial Ecology, Innovation and Development Center, University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal.
⁷ Laboratory of Ecology and Conservation, Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Maranhão, Rua do Comercio, 100, Buriticupu 65393-000, MA, Brazil.
⁸ Center in Sports Sciences, Health Sciences and Human Development (CIDESD), University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal.

Abstract

A growing body of evidence indicates that living close to nature is associated with better health and well-being. However, the literature still lacks studies analyzing the benefits of this proximity for sleep and obesity, particularly in women. The purpose of this study was to explore how distance to natural spaces is reflected in women's physical activity, sleep, and adiposity levels. The sample consisted of 111 adult women (37.78 ± 14.70). Accessibility to green and blue spaces was assessed using a geographic-information-system-based method. Physical activity and sleep parameters were measured using ActiGraph accelerometers (wGT3X-BT), and body composition was assessed using octopolar bioimpedance (InBody 720). Nonlinear canonical correlation analysis was used to analyze the data. Our findings reveal that women living in green spaces close to their homes had lower levels of obesity and intra-abdominal adiposity. We also demonstrated that a shorter distance to green spaces seemed to correlate with better sleep onset latency. However, no relationship was found between physical activity and sleep duration. In relation to blue spaces, the distance to these environments was not related to any health indicator analyzed in this study.

Keywords: actigraphy parameters; adiposity levels; nature exposure; women.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Body Composition
Environment
Exercise*
Female
Humans
Obesity
Sleep*

Grants and funding

This work is supported by National Funds by FCT—Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, under the projects UIDB/04033/2020, UID04045/2020, UIDB/00073/2020 and UID/MULTI/04621/2022. The investigation was also supported by the European funding program Interreg Atlantic Area, under the project (EAPA_772/2018-Triple-C).