The built environment may influence behaviours like physical activity, diet and sleep. Such behaviours are important for risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). In a study just published in BMC Medicine, we systematically reviewed and meta-analysed evidence on the association between built environmental characteristics related to lifestyle behaviour and T2DM risk worldwide. Nicole den Braver was first author on this paper and this study is part of the ENDEAVOR project.We included 109 studies in our review and 40 studies were meta-analysed.
Living in an urban residence was associated with a 1.4 higher T2DM risk/prevalence compared to living in a rural residence. Higher neighbourhood walkability was associated with lower T2DM risk/prevalence and we found some evidence that more green space was associated with somewhat lower T2DM risk/prevalence. No convincing evidence was found for a significant association between food environment and T2DM risk/prevalence.
