Funded by: Food Standards Agency Scotland (2005-07)

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    Health, Access to Greenspace and Informal Outdoor        Recreation in the Greenwood Community Forest and       Nottingham City
    Funded by: The Countryside Agency 2003-04)

Funded by the Countryside Agency in 2003-2004, the research examined the links between health, access to green space and participation in informal outdoor recreation identifying areas of particular need and proposing ways forward to tackle them. This research was undertaken by the BHF National Centre for Physical Activity and Health and the Geography Department at Loughborough University. Dr Tim Brown was centrally involved in collating information on the population profile of, and green space available in, the study area and in relating this to current understanding of health inequalities.

» Selected Major Publications

Almond L, Buxton K, Carr R, Brown T, Bell M (2004) Health, Access to Greenspace and Informal Outdoor Recreation in theGreenwood Community Forest and Nottingham City. The Countryside Agency.

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    Reducing inequalities in health and diet: the impact     of a food retail development
      Funded by: Department of Health (2001-2003)



This two year pilot study investigated the health impact (positive and negative) of a major food superstore development in a deprived urban neighbourhood in Glasgow. A postal questionnaire survey collected demographic and other data and included questions relating to self-reported health, psychological well being and food purchase and consumption patterns. This project is in collaboration with Professor Mark Petticrew (LSHTM) and Professor Leigh Sparks and Anne Findlay (University of Stirling).

» Selected Major Publications

Cummins S, Findlay A, Petticrew M, Sparks L. (in press) Retail-led regeneration and store-switching behaviour. Journal of Retailing & Consumer Services

Cummins S, Findlay A, Petticrew M, Sparks L (2008) Reducing inequalities in health and diet: the impact of food retail development. Environment & Planning A 40:2; 402-422

Cummins S, Petticrew M, Findlay A, Higgins C, and L Sparks. (2005) Large-scale food retailing as health intervention: quasi-experimental evaluation of a natural experiment. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, 59; 1035-40

Cummins S, Findlay A, Higgins C, Petticrew M and L Sparks (2005) Do large-scale food retail interventions improve diet and health? British Medical Journal 330: 683-6844

Petticrew M, Cummins S, Ferrell C, Finday A, Higgins C, Hoy C, Kearns A, Sparks L (2005) Natural experiments: an underused tool for public health. Public Health 119:9; 751-7

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    Material and social characteristics of areas and their         effects on the health of residents
     Funded by: Medical Research Council (2000-2003)


This quantitative project aimed to identify those characteristics of areas that influence health in Scotland and England. The project investigated how material characteristics (such as housing quality, health, education and transport services and leisure facilities) and social characteristics of social capital (such as levels of social cohesion, civic trust, social control, norms and values) might affect health at the neighbourhood level.

We investigated: (i) whether residents in areas with lower levels of social capital have poorer health adjusting for individual characteristics, (ii) whether residents in areas with poorer material characteristics have poorer health after adjusting for individual characteristics and (iii) that the effects on health of material characteristics and social capital vary according to the socio-demographic characteristics of individual residents or region of country. Of particular interest will be investigation into whether social capital has any protective effect in areas with poor material circumstances.

This project was  led by Dr Mai Stafford (UCL), Professor Sally Macintyre (MRC Social & Public Health Sciences Unit), Dr Anne Ellaway (MRC Social & Public Health Sciences Unit) and Professor Michael Marmot (UCL). Dr Steven Cummins was involved as a Research Associate overseeing the collection of geographic and contextual data.

» Selected Major Publications

Stafford M, Cummins S, Sacker A, Wiggins D, Macintyre S (2007) Pathways to obesity: identifying local, modifiable determinants of physical activity and diet Social Science & Medicine 65; 1882-1897

Cummins S, Macintyre S, Davidson S, Ellaway A, (2005) A methodology for measuring neighbourhood social and material context: generation and interpretation using routine and non-routine data. Health & Place 11:3; 249-260

Cummins S, Stafford M, Macintyre S, Marmot M, Ellaway A (2005) Neighbourhood social and material environment and self-rated health: evidence from Scotland and England Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health; 59:207-213

Stafford M, Cummins S, Macintyre S, Ellaway A, Marmot M (2005) Gender differences in associations between health and neighbourhood environment Social Science & Medicine 60; 1681-1692