Restorative Effects of Open Spaces on the Physiological Health of Obese Adults in Saudi Arabia

Authors

  • Amr Mohamad Alabbasi Faculty of Islamic Architecture, College of Engineering and Islamic Architecture, Umm Al Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Department of Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Built Environment, Universiti Teknologi, Malaysia, Johor Bahru, 81310, Malaysia
  • Ismail Said Department of Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Built Environment, Universiti Teknologi, Malaysia, Johor Bahru, 81310, Malaysia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21834/e-bpj.v3i8.1384

Keywords:

Restorative Environment, Open Spaces, Obesity, Physical Activity

Abstract

It has been found that the restorative environment literature heavily focused on the relationship between experiencing open spaces and psychological health. Yet, the effect of open spaces on physiological health and well-being did not receive similar attention. This highlights the need for strategies that involve open spaces as a means to control the prevalence of obesity and improve the human physiological health and well-being. This study examines the restorative effects of open spaces on physiological health of obese adults in the city of Yanbu Alsenayah, which is a well-designed city in Saudi Arabia.

References

Abraham, A., Sommerhalder, K. & Abel, T., 2010. Landscape and well-being: a scoping study on the health-promoting impact of outdoor environments. International journal of public health, 55(1), pp.59–69.

Al-But’hie, I. & Eben Saleh, M., 2002. Urban and industrial development planning as an approach for Saudi Arabia: the case study of Jubail and Yanbu. Habitat International, 26(1), pp.1–20. Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0197397501000261.

Al-sinayiah, Y., 2014. Yanbu Al-Sinayiah, American Diabetes Association, 2016. Diagnosing Diabetes and Learning About Prediabetes A1C Fasting Plasma Glucose ( FPG ) Oral Glucose Tolerance Test ( also called the OGTT ). , pp.5–8.

American Heart Association, 2016. Target Heart Rates - AHA. Available at: http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/PhysicalActivity/FitnessBasics/Target-Heart-Rates_UCM_434341_Article.jsp [Accessed May 12, 2017].

American Heart Association, 2017. What Do Blood Pressure Numbers Mean ? American Heart Association, pp.3–5. Available at: http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/HighBloodPressure/KnowYourNumbers/Understanding-Blood-Pressure-Readings_UCM_301764_Article.jsp#.WRiKueWGPIU [Accessed October 5, 2017].

AR Al-Nuaimt, K Al-Rubeaanl, Y Al-Mazrou2, O Al-Attasl, N.A.-D. and T.K., 1996. high prevel obesity.pdf. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Yagob_Al-Mazrou/publication/14419582_High_Prevalence_of_overweight_and_obesity_in_Saudi_Arabia/links/0deec5309b7f827d68000000/High-Prevalence-of-overweight-andobesity-in-Saudi-Arabia.pdf.

Brown, V. et al., 2017. Active transport and obesity prevention – A transportation sector obesity impact scoping review and assessment for Melbourne, Australia. Preventive Medicine, 96, pp.49–66. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2016.12.020.

Creswell, J.W., 2003. Research design Qualitative quantitative and mixed methods approaches. Research design Qualitative quantitative and mixed methods approaches, pp.3–26.

Dubbert, P.M. et al., 2002. Obesity, Physical Inactivity, and Risk for Cardiovascular Disease. The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, 324(3), pp.116–126.

Ekkel, E.D. & de Vries, S., 2017. Nearby green space and human health: Evaluating accessibility metrics. Landscape and Urban Planning, 157, pp.214–220. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2016.06.008.

Frank, L.D., Andresen, M.A. & Schmid, T.L., 2004. Obesity relationships with community design, physical activity, and time spent in cars. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 27(2), pp.87–96.

Giles-Corti, B. & Donovan, R.J., 2002. The relative influence of individual, social and physical environment determinants of physical activity. Social Science & Medicine, 54(12), pp.1793–1812.

Herzog, T.R., Maguire, C.P. & Nebel, M.B., 2003. Assessing the restorative components of environments. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 23(2), pp.159–170.

Hu, F.B., 2013. Resolved: There is sufficient scientific evidence that decreasing sugar-sweetened beverage consumption will reduce the prevalence of obesity and obesity related diseases. Obesity Reviews, 14(8), pp.606–619.

Hussain, A. et al., 2007. Prevention of type 2 diabetes: A review. Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice, 76(3), pp.317–326.

Konijnendijk, C.C. et al., 2013. Benefits of Urban Parks - A systematic review. International Federation of Parks and Recreation Administration, (January), pp.1–68.

Leedy, P.D. & Ormrod, J.E., 2013. Practical Research: Planning and Design,

Maruani, T. & Amit-Cohen, I., 2007. Open space planning models: A review of approaches and methods. Landscape and Urban Planning, 81(1–2), pp.1–13. Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169204607000199 [Accessed February 11, 2017].

Paffenbarger, R.S. et al., 1983. Physical activity and incidence of hypertension in college alumni. American journal of epidemiology, 117(3), pp.245–57. Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6829553.

Pais, P., 2006. Preventing ishaemic heart disease in developing countries,

Papathanasiou, G. et al., 2014. Association of High Blood Pressure with Body Mass Index , Smoking and Physical Activity in Healthy Young Adults. The Open Cardiovascular Medicine Journal, pp.5–17.

Parsons, R., 1991. The potential influences of environmental perception on human health. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 11(1), pp.1–23. Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272494405800027 [Accessed January 25, 2017].

Payne, S., 2009. Open Space: People Space. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 29(4), pp.532–533. Available at: http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0272494409000814.

Peter Adams, O., 2013. The impact of brief high-intensity exercise on blood glucose levels. Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity: Targets and Therapy, 6, pp.113–122.

Reaven, P.D., Barrett-Connor, E. & Edelstein, S., 1991. Relation between leisure-time physical activity and blood pressure in older women. Circulation, 83(2), pp.559–565.

Sandifer, P.A., Sutton-Grier, A.E. & Ward, B.P., 2015. Exploring connections among nature, biodiversity, ecosystem services, and human health and well-being: Opportunities to enhance health and biodiversity conservation. Ecosystem Services, 12, pp.1–15. Available at:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212041614001648 [Accessed February 15, 2017].

Shaw, J.E., Sicree, R.A. & Zimmet, P.Z., 2010. Global estimates of the prevalence of diabetes for 2010 and 2030. Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice, 87(1), pp.4–14.

Smith, A.D. et al., 2016. Physical activity and incident type 2 diabetes mellitus: a systematic review and dose???response meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. Diabetologia, pp.1–19. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00125-016-4079-0.

Sobngwi, E. et al., 2002. Physical activity and its relationship with obesity, hypertension and diabetes in urban and rural Cameroon. International Journal of Obesity, 26(7), pp.1009–1016. Available at: http://www.nature.com/doifinder/10.1038/sj.ijo.0802008.

Strath, S.J. et al., 2013. Guide to the assessment of physical activity: Clinical and research applications: A scientific statement from the American Heart association. Circulation, 128(20), pp.2259–2279.

Thakur, V., Reisin, E. & Richards, R., 2001. Obesity, Hypertension, and the Heart. The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, 321(4), pp.242–248. Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002962915346735 [Accessed April 14, 2017].

Tsunetsugu, Y. et al., 2013. Physiological and psychological effects of viewing urban forest landscapes assessed by multiple measurements. Landscape and Urban Planning, 113, pp.90–93. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2013.01.014.

Tyrväinen, L. et al., 2014. The influence of urban green environments on stress relief measures: A field experiment. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 38, pp.1–9. Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272494413000959 [Accessed January 25, 2017].

Völker, S. & Kistemann, T., 2011a. International Journal of Hygiene and The impact of blue space on human health and well-being – Salutogenetic health effects of inland surface waters : A review. , 214, pp.449–460.

Völker, S. & Kistemann, T., 2013. Social Science & Medicine “ I ’ m always entirely happy when I ’ m here ! ” Urban blue enhancing human health and well-being in Cologne and Düsseldorf , Germany. Social Science & Medicine, 78, pp.113–124. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.09.047.

Völker, S. & Kistemann, T., 2011b. The impact of blue space on human health and well-being Salutogenetic health effects of inland surface waters: A review. International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health, 214, pp.449–460.

Ward Thompson, C., 2011. Linking landscape and health: The recurring theme. Landscape and Urban Planning, 99(3–4), pp.187–195. Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169204610002860 [Accessed October 19, 2016].

Whiting, D.R. et al., 2011. IDF Diabetes Atlas: Global estimates of the prevalence of diabetes for 2011 and 2030. Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice, 94(3), pp.311–321. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.diabres.2011.10.029.

WHO, 2015a. Media centre - Cardiovascular Diseases (CVDs). fact sheet N. 317, (January), p.[Online]. Available at: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs317/en/.

WHO, 2016. Obesity Related Abstracts. world health organization. Available at: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/.

WHO, 2015b. WHO | Q&As on hypertension. world health organization. Available at: http://www.who.int/features/qa/82/en/ [Accessed April 17, 2017].

Zawawi, A., 2013. Post occupancy evaluation of industrial yanbu, saudi arabia: residents’ perceptions after 35 years of operation. Cnarnav UNtvBRsrry.

Zenk, S.N. et al., 2011. Activity space environment and dietary and physical activity behaviors: A pilot study. Health and Place, 17(5), pp.1150–1161. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2011.05.001.

Zethelius, B. et al., 2014. Level of physical activity associated with risk of cardiovascular diseases and mortality in patients with type-2 diabetes: report from the Swedish National Diabetes Register. European journal of preventive cardiology, 21(2), pp.244–51. Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24227183.

Downloads

Published

2018-08-01

How to Cite

Alabbasi, A. M., & Said, I. (2018). Restorative Effects of Open Spaces on the Physiological Health of Obese Adults in Saudi Arabia. Environment-Behaviour Proceedings Journal, 3(8), 55–64. https://doi.org/10.21834/e-bpj.v3i8.1384