Is Living in a U.S. Coastal City Good for One's Health?

ABSTRACT:

Background

Evidence suggests that living close to "blue spaces" (water features), particularly coastlines, has salutary effects on human health.

Methods

We analyzed five years of annual, self-reported general health and unhealthy days data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for 165 urban areas across the contiguous U.S. We compared health self-reports for people living in coastal vs. non-coastal urban areas and for residents of the disaster-prone Gulf of Mexico region vs. other locations. Coastal urban areas were defined as those having ≥50% of their population living within 20 km of a coast.

Results

We found no overall health advantage of residing in a coastal urban location when all urban areas

SUBMITTER: Sandifer PA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8393764 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature