Elucidation of mechanism from built environment to health toward primordial prevention

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20H00557
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 58:Society medicine, nursing, and related fields
• Research Institution: Chiba University
• Principal Investigator: Kondo Katsunori 千葉大学, 予防医学センター, 教授 (20298558)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 花里 真道 千葉大学, 予防医学センター, 准教授 (00608656) ; 尾島 俊之 浜松医科大学, 医学部, 教授 (50275674) ; 相田 潤 東京医科歯科大学, 大学院医歯学総合研究科, 教授 (80463777) ; 辻 大士 筑波大学, 体育系, 助教 (90741976)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 建造環境 / Well-being（幸福・健康） / ゼロ次予防 / ソーシャル・キャピタル

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Toward environment-oriented "Primordial prevention," in which people become healthy simply by living in their community, we aimed to theoretically and empirically elucidate the relationship and mechanisms between the artificial built environment and health and well-being(WB).
We have (1) developd a theoretical hypothetical model from the built environment to WB based on literature, (2) verified the relationship between the built environment and WB using large-scale longitudinal data of a total of 750,000 older people in about 70 municipalities, (3) clarified the mechanism from the built environment to WB, and (4) conducted a follow-up survey in FY2022 to investigate the relationship between WB and the built environment and the change in WB-related factors due to changes in the built environment. As a result, we presented the scientific basis for the "naturally healthy environment" included in Japan's top-level health policy, "Healthy Japan 21 (Tertiary).

Free Research Field

社会疫学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

建造環境とそこに暮らす個人のWell-beingの関連を実証することに加え、建造環境がwell-beingに影響をもたらすメカニズムを明示することは、健康日本21（第三次）に「自然に健康になる環境」を盛り込むことに貢献できた。
2024年度から新たに始まる健康日本21（第三次）においても、ソーシャル・キャピタル醸成が求められるが、その基盤として、建造環境を整備することの重要性と科学的根拠を提供できた。