Can more trees cause healthier babies?

Mothers who live in greener areas deliver healthier babies, a new study from Oregon State University shows.

Plenty of grass, trees and other green vegetation leads to longer terms and higher birth weights, researchers from OSU and the University of British Columbia found.

The findings held true even when results were adjusted for factors such as neighborhood income, exposure to air pollution, noise and neighborhood walkability.

"This was a surprise," said Perry Hystad, lead author of the study. "We expected the association between greenness and birth outcomes to disappear once we accounted for other environmental exposures such as air pollution and noise. The research really suggests that greenness affects birth outcomes in other ways, such as psychologically or socially."

Hystad is an environmental epidemiologist in OSU's College of Public Health and Human Sciences.

Researchers studied more than 64,000 births in the Vancouver, British Columbia area.

They found that mothers who lived in greener neighborhoods had 20 percent lower very pre-term births and 13 percent lower moderate pre-term births.

They also found that fewer infants from greener neighborhoods were small for their gestational age.

The study could have significant implications for public health, Hystad said.

Babies born early or underweight often have health and developmental problems, not just at birth but as they continue to grow.

Half the world's population lives in urban areas.

"We know a lot about the negative influences such as living closer to major roads but demonstrating that a design choice can have benefits is really uplifting," said Michael Brauer of the University of British Columbia, the study's senior author. "With the high cost of healthcare, modifying urban design features such as increasing green space may turn out to be extremely cost-effective strategies to prevent disease."

The study didn't address how much green space is needed, but adding a planter to the patio or a tree to the sidewalk median probably won't make much difference, they said.

Results of the study were published recently in the journal "Environmental Health Perspectives."

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Read the study here.