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Access to green space may protect against cardiovascular disease
A new study shows that cities with good tree cover and where the population perceives having access to parks or outdoor spaces can improve obesity, high blood pressure or diabetes. A research team with the participation of ICTA-UAB publishes it in the journal Environmental Research.
Although there is an increasing number of studies associating green spaces in a city with improved cardiovascular health, this research expands this knowledge and distinguishes between the type of vegetation, the perceived access to green spaces or between neighborhoods within the same city.
“It is not enough for a city to have green spaces, the population must perceive they have access to them”, explains Pablo Knobel, lead author of the article and member of the CTFC’s Environment and Human Health Lab (EH2 Lab) and the ICTA-UAB. “For example, in Barcelona we have green spaces that are not perceived as such, as they are