PHENOTYPE is a four-year project funded by the European Commission’s Framework 7, to explore links between the natural environment and health. Eight partners across countries will collaborate, using a range of epidemiological and novel experimental methods to improve current understanding of the mechanisms behind, and potential for, preventive and therapeutic health benefits of natural environments. Part of the project involves analyses of large routine databases containing relevant health and cohort data, which will be linked with novel indicators of natural environment exposure.
In the UK, The Born in Bradford study offers a unique opportunity to examine the role of ethnicity in the relationship between exposure to the natural outdoor environment and health benefits, which is often difficult because of the small proportion of ethnic minorities. Specific project aims include:
- To explore the relationships between exposure to natural environments and birth outcomes, maternal and infant health in Bradford
- To explore the potential role of ethnicity
- To explore potential mechanisms that mediate natural environment-health relationship (e.g., physical activity).
