Associations of neighbourhood safety with leisure-time walking and cycling in population subgroups: The HELIUS study.

To create neighbourhood environments that encourage physical activity, it is important to know which neighbourhood characteristics are most influential. We examined the association of neighbourhood safety with leisure-time walking and cycling in the population at large, as well as in some subgroups in terms of sex, age, ethnicity and socio-economic position. We used data of 19,914 participants (18-70 years) from a study in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Visibility of tobacco products and advertisement at the point of sale: a systematic audit of retailers in Amsterdam.

Objectives: Visibility of tobacco products at the point of sale (PoS), in settings where open display of tobacco is allowed, is one of the last remaining ways in which the tobacco industry can legally promote their products. The aim of this study was to map the visibility of tobacco products and advertisement both inside and outside retailers, among different types of retailers.

Setting: The study was conducted in two districts in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Neighbourhood safety and smoking in population subgroups: The HELIUS study.

This study examines the associations between neighbourhood safety and three types of smoking behaviour, and whether these associations differ by sex, age, ethnicity and individual-level socio-economic position. Baseline data (2011-2015) from the The HEalthy LIfe in an Urban Setting (HELIUS) study (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) were used. Smoking behaviour was based on self-report.

The relationship between ethnic composition of the residential environment and self-reported health among Turks and Moroccans in Amsterdam.

Background: Previous studies from the US and UK suggest that neighbourhood ethnic composition is associated with health, positive or negative, depending on the health outcome and ethnic group. We examined the association between neighbourhood ethnic composition and self-reported health in these groups in Amsterdam, and we aimed to explore whether there is spatial variation in this association.

Methods: We used micro-scale data to describe the ethnic composition in buffers around the home location of 2701 Turks and 2661 Moroccans.

Association between Self-Rated Health and the Ethnic Composition of the Residential Environment of Six Ethnic Groups in Amsterdam.

Background: Studies on the association between health and neighborhood ethnic composition yielded inconsistent results, possibly due to methodological limitations. We assessed these associations at different spatial scales and for different measures of ethnic composition.

Methods: We obtained health survey data of 4673 respondents of Dutch, Surinamese, Moroccan, Turkish other non-Western and other Western origin.

Assessing associations between socio-economic environment and self-reported health in Amsterdam using bespoke environments.

Background: The study of the relationship between residential environment and health at micro area level has a long time been hampered by a lack of micro-scale data. Nowadays data is registered at a much more detailed scale. In combination with Geographic Information System (GIS)-techniques this creates opportunities to look at the relationship at different scales, including very local ones.