Green Space Exposure and Cardiometabolic and Cerebrovascular Disease in China

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) have been the leading cause of death and disease burden in China and worldwide during the last decades. Research on the potential beneficial effects of exposure to green spaces on cardiovascular health has sprung up in recent years and has been one of the focuses in the environment and health areas. However, the number of comprehensive evidence on the associations between green spaces and cardiovascular disease among Chinese population is currently limited. Therefore, we systematically searched for relevant epidemiological studies on the associations of green spaces with CVDs (i.e., total CVD, coronary heart disease, and stroke) and cardiometabolic factors (i.e., adiposity, dyslipidaemias, hypertension, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome) conducted in China. We found that there were beneficial associations between exposure to green spaces and adiposity and hypertension were observed among Chinese population, but the evidence on associations of green spaces with other CVD outcomes was limited and not conclusive. However, most of the primary studies had one or more limitations in methodology, such as cross-sectional designs. Thus, more well-designed studies, especially cohort and intervention studies, are warranted. We believed that our findings will be helpful for future research and evidence-based policy making in China.