Investigating a Nature-Based Intervention for Maintaining Relative Telomere Length and Resting Heart Rate in BIPOC TAY in the San Francisco Bay Area
Isabella Ramirez, Rizelle Jugarap, Jessi Jeronimo
Department of Biology
Faculty Supervisor: Leticia Márquez-Magaña
Systemic racism disproportionately affects BIPOC TAY (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, Transitional Aged Youth) and increased stress response can contribute to adverse cardiovascular outcomes. Exposure to green spaces in an anti-racist manner may provide a low-cost intervention for maintaining relative telomere length (rTL) and resting heart rate (RHR). To examine how a nature-based intervention (NBI) may influence cardiovascular health, we investigated the association between rTL and RHR. We hypothesized rTL is inversely correlated with RHR. We onboarded 189 participants who measured their weekly RHR, and donated saliva to determine rTL using qPCR. Using Kendall’s tau, we found the association between rTL and RHR to be negligible and statistically not significant at baseline (tau = -0.08, p-value>0.05), during NBI (tau=-0.10, p-value>0.05), and after NBI (tau=0.33, p-value>0.05). These results suggest that rTL and RHR are not related. Inconsistent RHR reporting, low sample size, and the NBI occurring only monthly over three months are limitations to the study. It is possible that the hypothesized association may be observed with a larger sample size and prolonged, frequent nature exposure. Continuous studies can inform policy change for increased access to culturally concordant green spaces.