A new study by scientists from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health’s Built Environment and Health Research Group has revealed that living in a more walkable neighborhood can reduce the risk of gestational diabetes (GD) in pregnant women. The findings of the study have been published in the peer-reviewed journal Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology.
The researchers, in partnership with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, analyzed city data from over 109,000 births in 2015 and found that the risk of GD decreased with increases in Neighborhood Walkability Index score by as much as 20% between areas in the highest and lowest quartiles of walkability. Similarly, when the researchers assessed the density of walkable destinations, another measure of neighborhood walkability, pregnant women in the highest quartile of walkable destinations had a 23% lower risk of GD compared to those living in the lowest quartile.
An earlier study by the same research team found that neighborhood walkability is also associated with a lower risk of excess weight gain during pregnancy. The researchers theorize that neighborhood walkability is associated with higher levels of walking and physical activity in pregnant women, which in turn reduces the risk of GD and excess weight gain during pregnancy.
“The study highlights the importance of urban planning, particularly neighborhood walkability, in promoting health,” says study co-first author Andrew Rundle, DrPH, an epidemiology professor at Columbia Mailman. “Creating opportunities for pregnant women to meet recommendations for healthy physical activity during pregnancy is expected to have long-lasting positive benefits for both parent and child.”
The study was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the authors declared no conflict of interest.