Neighbourhood Environments and Lifestyle Behaviours in Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes.

Early prevention strategies are needed to mitigate the high risk of cardiovascular disease in adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1D). Residential neighbourhood features can promote healthy lifestyle behaviours and reduce cardiovascular risk, but less is known about their role in lifestyle behaviours in adolescents with T1D, and no studies use comparisons to healthy controls. We examined associations between residential neighbourhood features and lifestyle behaviours in adolescents with T1D and healthy controls. Data from CARDEA, a cross-sectional study of 100 adolescents with T1D (14-18 years) from a paediatric diabetes clinic in Montreal, Canada, and 97 healthy controls, were analysed. Outcomes included physical activity and sedentary behaviour (accelerometry), screen time and sleep duration (questionnaires), and dietary habits (24h recalls). Cluster analysis of selected neighbourhood indicators computed for participants' postal codes resulted in two neighbourhood types: central urban and peri-urban. Central urban neighbourhoods were characterised by very high population density, high active living index, numerous points of interest, higher social deprivation, higher residential mobility, and lower median household income compared to peri-urban neighbourhoods. Associations of neighbourhood type with lifestyle behaviours were estimated with multiple linear regressions and interactions by T1D status were tested. Living in central urban neighbourhoods was associated with greater daily minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (B = 8.61, 95% CI [1.79, 15.44]) compared to living in peri-urban neighbourhoods. No associations were observed for other lifestyle behaviours, and no statistically significant interactions were found between neighbourhood type and T1D status. Features that characterize central urban built environments appear to promote physical activity in adolescents, regardless of T1D status.

Phonological neighbourhood effects in Italian speech production: Evidence from healthy and neurologically impaired populations.

In two speech production studies conducted in Italian, we investigated the impact of phonological neighbourhood properties such as the neighbourhood density and the mean frequency of the neighbours on speech processing. Two populations of healthy (Study 1) and neurologically impaired (Study 2) individuals were tested. We employed multi-regression methods to analyse naming latencies in Study 1 and accuracy rates in Study 2 while controlling for various psycholinguistic predictors. In Study 1, pictures with words from high-density neighbourhoods were named faster than those from low-density neighbourhoods. Additionally, words with high-frequency neighbours were named faster in Study 1 and yielded higher accuracy rates in Study 2. The results suggest facilitatory effects of both the phonological neighbourhood density and frequency neighbourhood variables. Furthermore, we observed interactions between these two phonological neighbourhood variables and name agreement and repetition. Specifically, the facilitation effect was more pronounced for pictures with lower name agreement and during the initial presentation of the pictures. These findings are discussed in the context of previous literature and within the framework of interactive models of speech production.

Is the availability and quality of local early childhood education and care services associated with young children's mental health at school entry?

PURPOSE: This study investigated the relationship between geographic availability (and quality) of local early childhood education and care services and children's early mental health outcomes for all children entering their first year of full-time school in Melbourne, Australia. METHODS: We capitalise on a unique population linked dataset, the Australian Early Development Census - Built Environment, which combines geospatial measures of children's neighbourhoods with demographic information and child mental health outcomes for all school entrants in Australia's 21 most populous cities and towns. Objective early childhood education and care service location and quality exposures were developed for each study child based on home addresses. Four geographic availability exposures (counts within 3 km) were examined for cross-sectional associations with child mental health outcomes (externalising and internalising difficulties, competence). We estimated associations using multilevel logistic regression (Markov Chain Monte Carlo estimation) adjusting for child demographics and stratifying by urbanicity. RESULTS: Children with higher counts of high-quality preschool services within 3 km of home had lower odds of difficulties and higher odds of competence. Overall, exposures were most consistently associated with children's competence. Across all outcomes, the most consistent patterning was observed for children living in the inner city and middle ring. Results varied depending on whether service quality was accounted for in measures of availability. Geographic availability of early childhood services showed patterning by neighbourhood disadvantage and by maternal education. CONCLUSION: We found some evidence that geographic availability of high-quality preschools was associated with better child mental health outcomes, but results varied by urbanicity. While future research is required to unpack these differences, these findings indicate the importance of accounting for both geographic availability and service quality simultaneously in future research, policy and practice.

Heart failure in first- and second-generation immigrants aged 18-54 years in Sweden: A national study.

PURPOSE: We aimed at analysing the risk of congestive heart failure (CHF) among first- and second-generation immigrants in younger age groups. METHODS: All individuals aged 18-54 years, n = 3 973 454 in the first-generation study and n = 3 817 560 in the second-generation study, were included. CHF was defined as at least one registered diagnosis in the National Patient Register between 1 January 1998 and 31 December 2018. Cox regression analysis was used to estimate the relative risk [hazard ratios (HRs) with 99% confidence intervals (CIs)] of incident CHF with adjustments for age, co-morbidities and socio-demographics. RESULTS: In the first-generation study, a total of 85 719 cases of CHF were registered, 54 369 men and 31 350 women, where fully adjusted models showed HRs for all foreign-born men of 1.12 (99% CI 1.06-1.17) and for women of 0.99 (0.92-1.05). Groups with higher risk included men from Eastern Europe, Central Europe, Africa and Asia and women from Africa and Asia, and a lower risk was found among Latin American women. In the second-generation study, a total of 88 999 cases of CHF were registered, 58 403 men and 30 596 women, where fully adjusted models showed HRs for second-generation men of 1.04 (0.99-1.09) and women of 0.97 (0.90-1.04). CONCLUSIONS: The higher risk in some foreign-born groups needs to be paid attention to in clinical practice. The fact that almost all increased risks were attenuated and absent in second-generation immigrants suggests that lifestyle and environmental factors are more important than genetic differences in the risk of CHF.

Ethnic Density and Mental Health: Does it Matter Whether the Ethnic Density is Co-ethnic or Multi-ethnic and How Important is Change in Ethnic Density?

The ethnic density thesis suggests a protective health benefit for ethnic minorities living in places with higher concentration of co-ethnic residents. This paper aims to make a step change in the examination of this thesis by proposing ethnic diversity rather than co-ethnic density will be more protective for mental health. The paper proposes ethnic diversity could be a community asset that benefits the health of all people in a neighbourhood regardless of their own ethnic group. Individual data is taken from the UK Household Longitudinal Study, 2009-2019 linked to aggregate data from the 2001 and 2011 Censuses to test the association between co-ethnic density, ethnic diversity and mental health using the General Health Questionnaire 12-item scale. The paper takes a novel approach by measuring pre-existing (in 2001) and change in (2001-2011) co-ethnic density and ethnic diversity. Moderating effects of individual ethnic group, neighbourhood deprivation and perceived social cohesion are tested. Results show lower pre-existing co-ethnic density is related to lower mental health amongst the White British ethnic group but not in most ethnic minority groups. Greater pre-existing ethnic diversity in more deprived neighbourhoods is associated with better mental health regardless of individual ethnic group. A point of contention in the findings is no association between change in ethnic diversity and mental health.

Home injuries in British Columbia: patterns across the deprivation spectrum.

The significant burden of home injuries has become a growing concern that affect thousands of people every year across Canada. This study examined the relationship between neighbourhood deprivation and unintentional injuries occurring at home leading to hospitalizations in British Columbia (BC) between 2015 and 2019. This study used de-identified hospitalization data on unintentional home-related injuries from the Discharge Abstract Database (DAD) and population data for each dissemination area from Statistics Canada's 2016 Census Profiles. Hospitalization rates were computed for unintentional home-related injuries across four dimensions specified in the Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation (CIMD) for BC. For three CIMD dimensions (situational vulnerability, economic dependency, and residential instability), unintentional home injury rates were higher in areas with higher deprivation, while the inverse was observed for ethno-cultural diversity. Understanding socio-economic disparities within neighbourhoods enables injury prevention partners to identify vulnerable populations and prioritize the development and implementation of evidence-based injury prevention interventions.

Association between Young People's Neighbourhoods' Characteristics and Health Risk Factors in Saudi Arabia.

INTRODUCTION: A neighbourhood's environmental characteristics can positively or negatively influence health and well-being. To date, no studies have examined this concept in the context of Saudi Arabian youth. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the association between a neighbourhood's environmental characteristics and health risk factors among Saudi Arabian youth. METHODS: A total of 335 secondary-school students (175 males, 160 females), aged 15-19 years old, participated. Body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference measurements were taken, and physical activity (steps) was measured via pedometer. The perceived neighbourhood environment was assessed using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire Environment Module (IPAQ-E). RESULTS: Significant differences were found between the youths from urban, rural farm, and rural desert locations in terms of BMI, waist circumference, daily steps, accessibility, infrastructure, social environment, household vehicles, safety, and access to facilities (p < 0.001). Rural desert youths were less active, and males (26.43 + 8.13) and females (24.68 + 5.03) had higher BMIs compared to the youths from other areas. Chi-square analysis revealed a significant difference (χ21 = 12.664, p < 0.001) between the genders as to social-environment perceptions. Males perceived their neighbourhood as a social environment more than was reported by females (68.39% and 50.28%, respectively). Pearson's correlation revealed negative significant relationships between steps and both safety of neighbourhood (r = -0.235, p < 0.001) and crime rate (r = -0.281, p < 0.001). DISCUSSION: Geographical location, cultural attitudes, lack of facilities, and accessibility impact youth physical-activity engagement and weight status; this includes environmental variables such as residential density, neighbourhood safety, household motor vehicles, and social environment. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study examining associations with neighbourhood environments in the youths of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Significant associations and geographical differences were found. More research and policy interventions to address neighbourhoods' environmental characteristics and health risk factors relative to Saudi Arabian youth are warranted.

Greenspace and risk of obesity-related cancer in the UK Biobank cohort: An analysis of private residential gardens and other greenspace types.

BACKGROUND: Cohort studies linking greenspace exposure to a lower risk of obesity-related cancer (ORC) are scarce. Existing evidence on site-specific cancers has predominantly relied on non-specific greenspace measures, including vegetation indices. We examined the associations of total greenspace, private residential gardens, and other greenspace types with the risk of being diagnosed with overall and site-specific ORC. METHODS: We used data from the participants in the UK Biobank recruited between 2006 and 2010 and censored until December 31, 2016. We defined greenspace variables using Ordnance Survey MasterMap™ greenspace categories. The incidence of ORC was ascertained through data linkage to cancer registries. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using Cox proportional hazard models and adjusted for covariates. We conducted mediation and modification analysis by physical activity, serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D], and particulate matter air pollution with an aerodynamic diameter ≤ 2.5 (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), as well as subgroup analysis by covariates. RESULTS: Among 279,326 participants, 9550 developed ORC over a median follow-up period of 7.82 years. An increase in private residential gardens within a 100 m buffer was associated with a decreased risk of overall ORC (HR:0.92; 95 % CI: 0.88, 0.96), breast cancer (HR: 0.91; 95 % CI: 0.84, 0.98), and uterine cancer (HR:0.80; 95 % CI: 0.67, 0.96). There was no association between other greenspace types and ORC, except for uterine cancer. The association for ORC was partly mediated by NO2 and modified by physical activity levels, 25(OH)D, PM2.5, and NO2, and sociodemographic factors, including sex and neighbourhood socioeconomic status. CONCLUSION: Increased exposure to private residential gardens may lower the risk of being diagnosed with obesity-related cancer, particularly breast and uterine cancer. Future studies might move beyond considering greenspace quantity to explore functional types of greenspace exposure that should be prioritized for targeted health intervention and cancer prevention.

The unexpected influence of legacy conspecific density dependence.

When plants die, neighbours escape competition. Living conspecifics could disproportionately benefit because they are freed from negative intraspecific processes; however, if the negative effects of past conspecific neighbours persist, other species might be advantaged, and diversity might be maintained through legacy effects. We examined legacy effects in a mapped forest by modelling the survival of 37,212 trees of 23 species using four neighbourhood properties: living conspecific, living heterospecific, legacy conspecific (dead conspecifics) and legacy heterospecific densities. Legacy conspecific effects proved nearly four times stronger than living conspecific effects; changes in annual survival associated with legacy conspecific density were 1.5% greater than living conspecific effects. Over 90% of species were negatively impacted by legacy conspecific density, compared to 47% by living conspecific density. Our results emphasize that legacies of trees alter community dynamics, revealing that prior research may have underestimated the strength of density dependent interactions by not considering legacy effects.

The relationship between neighbourhood built characteristics, physical activity, and health-related fitness in urban dwelling Canadian adults: A mediation analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Physical activity supportive environments have the potential to promote health-related fitness in adults. However, the extent to which neighbourhood built characteristics promote health-related fitness via physical activity has received little research attention. Therefore, our objective was to estimate the indirect and direct effects between neighbourhood built characteristics and health-related fitness mediated by physical activity. METHODS: Using cross-sectional data collected between 2014 and 2019, we merged neighbourhood built characteristics, physical activity, and health-related fitness variables, derived from two Canadian national databases. Using these data, we estimated sex-stratified covariate-adjusted path models (males: n = 983 to 2796 and females: n = 962 to 2835) to assess if accelerometer-measured light, moderate, and vigorous intensity physical activity mediated associations between objectively measured neighbourhood built characteristics (intersection density, dwelling density, points of interest, and transit density) and health-related fitness (grip strength, jump height, V̇O2max, and flexibility). Across 16 sex-specific models, we estimated 48 indirect and 16 direct effects. RESULTS: Concerning significant associations, for males we found that 16.6% of indirect and 18.8% of direct were negative and 4.2% of indirect and 0% of direct were positive. For females, we found that 12.5% of indirect and 0% of direct were negative and 0% of indirect and 25% of direct effects were positive. CONCLUSIONS: Individual Canadian Active Living Environment built characteristics are positively associated with moderate-intensity physical activity and negatively associated with light-intensity physical activity. Further, associations between activity friendly neighbourhood characteristics and health related-fitness may be distinct from physical activity.

Indirect Effects of Neighbourhood Socioeconomic Status on Preterm Birth Risk in an Argentine Population.

BACKGROUND: Preterm birth (PTB) is the main condition related to perinatal morbimortality worldwide. The aim of this study was to determine the indirect effects of neighbourhood socioeconomic status (NSES) on the risk of spontaneous PTB. METHODS: We carried out a retrospective case-control study including sociodemographic and obstetric data of multigravid women who gave birth at a maternity hospital in Tucumán, Argentina, between 2005 and 2010: 949 women without previous PTB nor pregnancy loss who delivered at term and 552 who had spontaneous PTB. NSES was estimated from the Unsatisfied Basic Needs index of census data. Variables selected through penalised regressions were used to create a data-driven Bayesian network; then, pathways were identified and mediation analyses performed. RESULTS: Maternal age less than 20 years mediated part of the protective effect of high NSES on spontaneous PTB [natural indirect effect (NIE) -0.0125, 95% confidence interval (CI) (-0.0208, -0.0041)] and on few prenatal visits (< 5) [NIE - 0.0095, 95% CI (-0.0166, -0.0025)]. These pathways showed greater sensitivity to unobserved confounders that affect the variables mediator-outcome in the same direction, and exposure-mediator in the opposite direction. They did not show sensitivity to observed potential confounders, nor to the parameterization used to define NSES. Meanwhile, urinary tract infections showed a trend in mediating the effect of low NSES on spontaneous PTB [NIE 0.0044, 95% CI (-0.0006, 0.0093), P 0.0834]. CONCLUSIONS: High NSES has protective indirect effects on spontaneous PTB risk, mainly associated with a lower frequency of teenage pregnancy.

Understanding Environmental Consequences of Quarry Operations: Residents' Perception Study in the Neighbourhood of a Quarry in Osun state, Nigeria.

Investigation on human perspective on the impacts of quarry activities on the natural environment remains limited. This study gauged residents' perceptions of the ecological consequences of quarry operations. A meticulously structured questionnaire was dispensed among 214 households, chosen at random, in the vicinity of Sanlong Quarry within Obaagun community, Ifelodun Local Government Area, Osun State, Nigeria. The dataset underwent analysis utilising both descriptive and inferential statistics. Results indicated a predominance of female respondents, constituting 77.6%, with 65% aged 41 years and above. Moreover, 74.2% had been residents in the study area for no less than 7 years, and 62.6% resided within 1 km of the quarry site. A substantial 74.3% (159 residents) regarded quarry operations as detrimental to their environment, with 72.2% attributing this to machine vibrations. Kaiser-Meyer-Olkins and Barttlet's tests affirmed the factorability of the dataset at a 77.5% significance level (P < .005). Factor analysis revealed 7 variables, encompassing 79.19% of residents' perceptions of the environmental impact of quarry operations. These variables included the loss of farmlands (21.35%), degraded farmland (15.06%), vibrations from heavy machines affecting buildings (10.64%), flyrock debris from rock blasting damaging roofs, and the destruction caused by trucks and heavy machinery on rural roads (8.57%). Additionally, wildlife displacement (8.33%) and respondents' perception of the quarry's duration of operation (8.00%) were identified. These findings suggest that quarry operations exert a significant influence on the livelihood of the Sanlong quarry neighbourhood. It is imperative for stakeholders to address this situation through relevant policies, particularly those that enhance the well-being of the community and hold the quarry company responsible for the damages inflicted on various environmental resources. Nonetheless, further study is recommended to validate or otherwise the current findings.

CPMI: comprehensive neighborhood-based perturbed mutual information for identifying critical states of complex biological processes.

BACKGROUND: There exists a critical transition or tipping point during the complex biological process. Such critical transition is usually accompanied by the catastrophic consequences. Therefore, hunting for the tipping point or critical state is of significant importance to prevent or delay the occurrence of catastrophic consequences. However, predicting critical state based on the high-dimensional small sample data is a difficult problem, especially for single-cell expression data. RESULTS: In this study, we propose the comprehensive neighbourhood-based perturbed mutual information (CPMI) method to detect the critical states of complex biological processes. The CPMI method takes into account the relationship between genes and neighbours, so as to reduce the noise and enhance the robustness. This method is applied to a simulated dataset and six real datasets, including an influenza dataset, two single-cell expression datasets and three bulk datasets. The method can not only successfully detect the tipping points, but also identify their dynamic network biomarkers (DNBs). In addition, the discovery of transcription factors (TFs) which can regulate DNB genes and nondifferential 'dark genes' validates the effectiveness of our method. The numerical simulation verifies that the CPMI method is robust under different noise strengths and is superior to the existing methods on identifying the critical states. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, we propose a robust computational method, i.e., CPMI, which is applicable in both the bulk and single cell datasets. The CPMI method holds great potential in providing the early warning signals for complex biological processes and enabling early disease diagnosis.

Association of school neighbourhood socioeconomic disadvantage and teaching staff's risk of violence at work.

AIM: The aim of this study was to determine the association between neighbourhood socioeconomic disadvantage and teaching staff's risk of workplace violence and whether workplace psychosocial resources can act as effect modifiers. METHODS: Primary school teaching staff in the six largest cities in Finland responded to a survey in 2018 and were linked to information on school neighbourhood disadvantage obtained from the national grid database (n = 3984). RESULTS: After adjustment for confounders, staff working in schools located in the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods had a 1.2-fold (95% confidence interval 1.07-1.35) risk of encountering violence or threat of violence compared with staff working in the most advantaged neighbourhoods. The association was less marked in schools with strong support from colleagues (risk ratio 1.14, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.98-1.32 for high support versus 1.23, 95% CI 1.07-1.43 for low/intermediate support), a strong culture of collaboration (1.08, 95% CI 0.93-1.26 versus 1.31, 95% CI 1.12-1.53), high leadership quality (1.12, 95% CI 0.96-1.31 versus 1.29, 95% CI 1.08-1.54), and high organizational justice (1.09, 95% CI 0.91-1.32 versus 1.29, 95% CI 1.09-1.52). CONCLUSIONS: The association between school neighbourhood and teaching staff's risk of violence was weaker in schools with high workplace psychosocial resources, suggesting that targeting these factors might help in minimizing violence at schools, but future intervention studies are needed to confirm or refute this hypothesis.

Neighbourhood factors and tuberculosis incidence in Cape Town: A negative binomial regression and spatial analysis.

OBJECTIVES: Although the link between poverty and tuberculosis (TB) is widely recognised, limited studies have investigated the association between neighbourhood factors and TB incidence. Since the factors influencing different episodes of TB might be different, this study focused on the first episode of TB disease (first-episode TB). METHODS: All first episodes in previously linked and geocoded TB notification data from 2007 to 2015 in Cape Town, South Africa, were aggregated at the neighbourhood level and merged with the 2011 census data. We conducted an ecological study to assess the association between neighbourhood incidence of first-episode TB and neighbourhood factors (total TB burden [all episodes] in the previous year, socioeconomic index, mean household size, mean age, and percentage males) using a negative binomial regression. We also examined the presence of hotspots in neighbourhood TB incidence with the Global Moran's I statistic and assessed spatial dependency in the association between neighbourhood factors and TB incidence using a spatial lag model. RESULTS: The study included 684 neighbourhoods with a median first-episode TB incidence rate of 114 (IQR: 0-345) per 100,000 people. We found lower neighbourhood socioeconomic index (SEI), higher neighbourhood total TB burden, lower neighbourhood mean household size, and lower neighbourhood mean age were associated with increased neighbourhood first-episode TB incidence. Our findings revealed a hotspot of first-episode TB incidence in Cape Town and evidence of spatial dependency in the association between neighbourhood factors and TB incidence. CONCLUSION: Neighbourhood TB burden and SEI were associated with first-episode TB incidence, and there was spatial dependency in this association. Our findings can inform targeted interventions to reduce TB in high-risk neighbourhoods, thereby reducing health disparities and promoting health equity.

Neighbourhood socioeconomic position, prenatal care and fulfilment of postpartum permanent contraception: Findings from a multisite cohort study.

Introduction: Research suggests neighbourhood socioeconomic vulnerability is negatively associated with women's likelihood of receiving adequate prenatal care and achieving desired postpartum permanent contraception. Receiving adequate prenatal care is linked to a greater likelihood of achieving desired permanent contraception, and access to such care may be critical for women with Medicaid insurance given that the federally mandated Medicaid sterilization consent form must be signed at least 30 days before the procedure. We examined whether adequacy of prenatal care mediates the relationship between neighbourhood socioeconomic position and postpartum permanent contraception fulfilment, and examined moderation of relationships by insurance type. Methods: This secondary analysis of a retrospective cohort study examined 3012 Medicaid or privately insured individuals whose contraceptive plan at postpartum discharge was permanent contraception. Path analysis estimated relationships between neighbourhood socioeconomic position (economic hardship and inequality, financial strength and educational attainment) and permanent contraception fulfilment by hospital discharge, directly and indirectly through adequacy of prenatal care. Multigroup testing examined moderation by insurance type. Results: After adjusting for age, parity, weeks of gestation at delivery, mode of delivery, race, ethnicity, marital status and body mass index, having adequate prenatal care predicted achieving desired sterilization at discharge (ß = 0.065, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.011, 0.117). Living in neighbourhoods with less economic hardship (indirect effect -0.007, 95% CI: -0.015, -0.001), less financial strength (indirect effect -0.016, 95% CI: -0.030, -0.002) and greater educational attainment (indirect effect 0.012, 95% CI: 0.002, 0.023) predicted adequate prenatal care, in turn predicting achievement of permanent contraception by discharge. Insurance status conditioned some of these relationships. Conclusion: Contact with the healthcare system via prenatal care may be a mechanism by which neighbourhood socioeconomic disadvantage affects permanent contraception fulfilment, particularly for patients with Medicaid. To promote reproductive autonomy and healthcare equity, future inquiry and policy might closely examine how neighbourhood social and economic characteristics interact with Medicaid mandates.

Socio-ecological factors linked with changes in adults' dietary intake in Los Angeles County during the peak of the coronavirus 2019 pandemic.

OBJECTIVE: Comprehensive studies examining longitudinal predictors of dietary change during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic are lacking. Based on an ecological framework, this study used longitudinal data to test if individual, social and environmental factors predicted change in dietary intake during the peak of the coronavirus 2019 pandemic in Los Angeles County and examined interactions among the multilevel predictors. DESIGN: We analysed two survey waves (e.g. baseline and follow-up) of the Understanding America Study, administered online to the same participants 3 months apart. The surveys assessed dietary intake and individual, social, and neighbourhood factors potentially associated with diet. Lagged multilevel regression models were used to predict change from baseline to follow-up in daily servings of fruits, vegetables and sugar-sweetened beverages. SETTING: Data were collected in October 2020 and January 2021, during the peak of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic in Los Angeles County. PARTICIPANTS: 903 adults representative of Los Angeles County households. RESULTS: Individuals who had depression and less education or who identified as non-Hispanic Black or Hispanic reported unhealthy dietary changes over the study period. Individuals with smaller social networks, especially low-income individuals with smaller networks, also reported unhealthy dietary changes. After accounting for individual and social factors, neighbourhood factors were generally not associated with dietary change. CONCLUSIONS: Given poor diets are a leading cause of death in the USA, addressing ecological risk factors that put some segments of the community at risk for unhealthy dietary changes during a crisis should be a priority for health interventions and policy.

Pathways linking greenspace to behavioural problems in Polish children.

Background: Previous cross-sectional studies have found a beneficial relationship between greenspace and children's behaviour. Nevertheless, evidence on the mechanisms underlying this association remains scant. We examined whether the availability of greenspace was related to fewer behavioural problems in Polish children and investigated potential mechanisms. Methods: Data were obtained from the case-control NeuroSmog study, in which children with and without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were tested from October 2020 to September 2022. The analytic sample comprised 679 children aged 10-13 years. Parents reported internalizing, externalizing, and total behavioural problems using the Child Behaviour Check List (CBCL), as well as information about the presence of a domestic garden and potential mediators: greenspace perception, neighbourhood social cohesion, and physical activity. Tree and grass covers were extracted in 500 m and 1 km buffers around lifelong residences. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to examine the psychosocial pathways linking the greenspace metrics to behavioural problems. Results: Greenspace was only indirectly related to fewer behavioural problems. Specifically, tree cover was related to greater levels of physical activity which, in turn, was related to fewer internalizing and total behavioural problems. Tree cover and presence of garden were related to greenspace perception which, in turn, was associated with higher neighbourhood social cohesion which, in turn, was linked to fewer behavioural problems. The patterns of associations in children without ADHD were very similar to those in the full sample except that the associations from garden to greenspace perception and from physical activity to total behavioural problems were no longer significant. The only association persisted among girls was from neighbourhood social cohesion to behavioural problems and among boys were from tree cover to physical activity and tree cover and garden to greenspace perception. Conclusion: Trees and garden, but not grass, are linked to fewer behavioural problems through greenspace perception, neighbourhood social cohesion, and physical activity in Polish children.

Madrid immigrants' perceptions of urban food environments and their dietary behaviours.

Large cities are home to several groups of immigrants who undergo important changes in their environmental conditions and lifestyles that significantly modify their risk of chronic diseases. Quantitative evidence indicates that both their health and diet worsen over time; much less is known about the qualitative mechanisms that cause these changes. The aim of this article is to understand how immigrants in the city of Madrid perceive the relation between the urban food environment and dietary behaviour. Based on a Social Ecological Framework, we conducted a secondary qualitative analysis derived from data from 41 immigrant residents, collected in eight focus groups (FGs), conducted in two neighbourhoods in the city of Madrid. We identified the following main categories: 1) Transnational identity and dietary behaviour in the neighbourhood; 2) Transitions in dietary behaviour; and 3) Societal/structural factors determining dietary behaviour in the neighbourhood. The participants in the FGs mentioned that they try to maintain traditional dietary customs and perceive that the taste of their typical dishes is better than those of Spanish dishes. Contradictorily, some participants considered their traditional dietary patterns to be less healthy than Mediterranean ones (consuming olive oil, vegetables, fish). Some participants acknowledged having adapted to the latter voluntarily or through dietary negotiations with their children. Immigrant families with two working parents have difficulties cooking homemade food and resort to less healthy options, such as eating fast food or ready-made meals. Due to their low purchasing power, they buy both ethnic products and other products, as well as considering the prices and offers in supermarkets. Our study highlights several structural mechanisms connecting the physical and social urban food environment with dietary behaviours among immigrant residents of a large city.

More than 'minority': Social tolerance and youth wellbeing at the intersection of ethnicity and neighbourhood segregation.

Social tolerance is an indicator of healthy diverse societies, and is associated with individual well-being. However, previous studies have found that social tolerance varies between groups and is experienced differently through one's immediate social context. This lends to the plausibility of ethnicity and neighbourhood ethnic composition altering one's experience of living in their neighbourhood and the impact of well-being. Relying on 6 waves of nationally-representative panel data from young adults in Singapore, we investigate how ethnicity and neighbourhood ethnic composition influences the relationship between social tolerance and well-being. We find that this relationship is moderated by both factors in ways that deviates from the conventional majority-minority dichotomy found in literature. This indicates that efforts made to improve social tolerance may lead to varying outcomes, depending on one's ethnicity and social context.