Study objectives: To study the association between greenery filled public areas that are nearby a residence and easy to walk in and the longevity of senior citizens in a densely populated, developed megacity. Design: Cohort study. Methods: The authors analysed the five year survival of 3144 people born in 1903, 1908, 1913, or 1918 who consented to a follow up survey from the records of registered Tokyo citizens in relation to baseline residential environment characteristics in 1992. Main results: The survival of 2211 and the death of 897 (98.9% follow up) were confirmed. The probability of five year survival of the senior citizens studied increased in accordance with the space for taking a stroll near the residence (p<0.01), parks and tree lined streets near the residence (p<0.05), and their preference to continue to live in their current community (p<0.01). The principal component analysis from the baseline residential environment characteristics identified two environment related factors: the factor of walkable green streets and spaces near the residence and the factor of a positive attitude to a person’s own community. After controlling the effects of the residents’ age, sex, marital status, and socioeconomic status, the factor of walkable green streets and spaces near the residence showed significant predictive value for the survival of the urban senior citizens over the following five years (p<0.01). Conclusions: Living in areas with walkable green spaces positively influenced the longevity of urban senior citizens independent of their age, sex, marital status, baseline functional status, and socioeconomic status. Greenery filled public areas that are nearby and easy to walk in should be further emphasised in urban planning for the development and re-development of densely populated areas in a megacity. Close collaboration should be undertaken among the health, construction, civil engineering, planning, and other concerned sectors in the context of the healthy urban policy, so as to promote the health of senior citizens.

Malnutrition in children is a major public health concern. This study aimed to determine the association between dietary diversity and stunting, underweight, wasting, and diarrhea and that between consumption of each specific food group and these nutritional and health outcomes among children.

Background: Little is known about the socioeconomic differences in health-related behaviours in Japan. The present study was performed to elucidate the effects of individual and regional socioeconomic factors on selected health risk behaviours among Japanese adults, with a particular focus on regional variations. Methods: In a nationally representative sample aged 25 to 59 years old (20,030 men and 21,076 women), the relationships between six risk behaviours (i.e., current smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, poor dietary habits, physical inactivity, stress and non-attendance of health check-ups), individual characteristics (i.e., age, marital status, occupation and household income) and regional (N = 60) indicators (per capita income and unemployment rate) were examined by multilevel analysis. Results: Divorce, employment in women, lower occupational class and lower household income were generally associated with a higher likelihood of risk behaviour. The degrees of regional variation in risk behaviour and the influence of regional indicators were greater in women than in men: higher per capita income was significantly associated with current smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, stress and non-attendance of health check-ups in women. Conclusion: Individual lower socioeconomic status was a substantial predictor of risk behaviour in both sexes, while a marked regional influence was observed only in women. The accumulation of risk behaviours in individuals with lower socioeconomic status and in women in areas with higher income, reflecting an urban context, may contribute to their higher mortality rates.

Background: Data from a statewide survey in India and clinic-based studies in developed settings have previously suggested an association between maternal physical intimate partner violence (IPV) experiences and the low use of antenatal care (ANC). This study aimed to explore the association between maternal experiences of physical and sexual IPV and the use of reproductive health care services, using a large nationally representative data set from Bangladesh. Methods: This paper used data from the 2007 Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey. The analyses were based on the responses of 2001currently married women living with at least one child younger than 5 years. Exposure was determined from maternal reports of physical and sexual IPV. The utilization of ANC according to amount and type of provider and utilization of delivery assistance according to provider type were used as proxy outcome variables for reproductive health care utilization. Descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic regression analysis used in the study. Results: Approximately two out of four (48.2%) respondents had experienced physical IPV. Maternal experience of physical IPV was associated with low use of receiving sufficient ANC (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 0.69; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.49–0.96), lower likelihood of receiving ANC (AOR 0.69; 95% CI 0.53–0.89), and assisted deliveries from skilled provider (AOR 0.54; 95% CI 0.37–0.78). Women who had been sexually abused were significantly less likely to have visited a skilled ANC and delivery care provider. Furthermore, severity of physical IPV appeared to have more profound consequences on the outcome measured. Conclusions: The association between exposure to IPV and use of reproductive health care services suggests that partner violence plays a significant role in lower utilization of reproductive health services among women in Bangladesh. Our findings suggest that, in addition to a wide range of socio-demographic factors, preventing maternal physical and sexual IPV need to be considered as an important psychosocial determinates for the higher utilization of reproductive health care services in Bangladesh.

Background Socioeconomic inequality in health has been a major concern in public health. This study examined socioeconomic inequality in regional mortality and the impact on inequality by cause of deaths in 1973–1977 and 1993–1998 using municipal statistics in Japan. Methods The municipalities across the country (N = 3244 in 1973–1977 and 3334 in 1993–1998) were classified into quintiles according to the index of socioeconomic position (SEP) obtained by principal component analysis of municipal indicators related to income and education. Mortality gradient by SEP for selected major causes of death in the population aged 0–74 years was examined using standardized mortality ratio by quintile and rate ratio of mortality across quintiles. As a measure of cause-specific impact on inequality, the number of excess deaths from each cause in the lower four SEP quintiles compared with the highest quintile was calculated. Results Mortality gradient by SEP and excess deaths in the lower SEP quintiles due to injury and suicide markedly increased from 1973–1977 to 1993–1998 for both males and females. In contrast, stroke, especially cerebral haemorrhage, showed a decrease in mortality gradient and excess deaths. For females in 1993–1998, a negative gradient of mortality by SEP was found, and cancer contributed the higher all-cause mortality in the higher SEP quintile. Conclusions The relative importance of socioeconomic inequality in regional mortality of stroke decreased, while that of injury and suicide increased. The prevention of injury and suicide, in addition to stroke, in socioeconomically disadvantaged regions, and cancer in urban areas with higher SEP should be given priority.