[Source: Medical XPress]

For children in early childhood, exposure to green space has a positive impact on bone health, according to a study published online Jan. 4 in JAMA Network Open.

Hanne Sleurs, from Hasselt University in Belgium, and colleagues investigated whether early-life exposure to residential surrounding green space is associated with a change in bone mineral density in young children. The analysis included mother-child pairs who were recruited at birth and followed for four to six years (327 children).

The researchers found that early-life exposure to residential green space was associated with increased childhood bone health. There was an association observed between an interquartile range (IQR) increase in total green (21.2 percent) and high green (19.9 percent) space within 500 m of the residence and an increase of 27.38 m/second and 25.30 m/second in bone mineral density, respectively.

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