title: Surrounding greenness and birth weight: results from the GINIplus and LISAplus birth cohorts in Munich.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We investigated the association between surrounding greenness at the mother's residential address at the time of delivery and birth weight in two German birth cohorts and explored potential underlying hypotheses.
  
  
  METHODS
  Complete data on 3203 newborns, recruited in Munich between 1996 and 1999, were available. Surrounding greenness was defined using the mean of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, which was derived from Landsat 5TM satellite images.
  
  
  RESULTS
  An interquartile increase of surrounding greenness in a 500-m buffer was associated with an average birth weight increase of 17.6g (95% CI=0.5 to 34.6). The effect strengthened after individual adjustment for NO2, PM2.5, distance to major road and population density. The strongest association was found for mothers with less than 10 years of school education. The results remained robust when additionally adjusted for noise or maternal stress during pregnancy. Neighbourhood green spaces were not associated with birth weight.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Surrounding greenness at the birth address was positively associated with birth weight in two birth cohorts in Munich. The mechanisms driving this association remain unclear and warrant further investigation.
authors.affiliation: Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Centre for Environmental Health, Institute of Epidemiology I, Ingolstädter Landstr. 1, Neuherberg D-85764, Germany; Institute and Outpatient Clinic for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Inner City Clinic, University Hospital of Munich (LMU), Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Iana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Markevych
authors.affiliation: Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Centre for Environmental Health, Institute of Epidemiology I, Ingolstädter Landstr. 1, Neuherberg D-85764, Germany; School of Population and Public Health, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
authors.forename: Elaine
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fuertes
authors.affiliation: Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Centre for Environmental Health, Institute of Epidemiology I, Ingolstädter Landstr. 1, Neuherberg D-85764, Germany; Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Institute for Medical Informatics, Biometrics and Epidemiology, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Carla M T
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Tiesler
authors.affiliation: Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Centre for Environmental Health, Institute of Epidemiology I, Ingolstädter Landstr. 1, Neuherberg D-85764, Germany.
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Birk
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Carl-Peter
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Bauer
authors.affiliation: Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Dr. von Hauner Children's Hospital, Division of Paediatric Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Sibylle
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Koletzko
authors.affiliation: Marien-Hospital Wesel, Department of Paediatrics, Wesel, Germany.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: von Berg
authors.affiliation: Marien-Hospital Wesel, Department of Paediatrics, Wesel, Germany.
authors.forename: Dietrich
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Berdel
authors.affiliation: Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Centre for Environmental Health, Institute of Epidemiology I, Ingolstädter Landstr. 1, Neuherberg D-85764, Germany. Electronic address: heinrich@helmholtz-muenchen.de.
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Heinrich
mesh_terms: D001724:Birth Weight; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D011247:Pregnancy
keywords: Birth weight; Green space; Greenness; NDVI; Pregnancy outcomes