Nature Experiences Offer Myriad of Health Benefits

People who visit parks for 30 minutes or more each week are much less likely to have high blood pressure (BP) or poor mental health, according to a new study.

Researchers at the University of Queensland (Brisbane, Australia), the Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions (CEED; St. Lucia; Australia), the University of Exeter (United Kingdom), and other institutions used a nature dose framework to examine the associations between exposure to nature and health outcomes in an urban population of 1,538 residents of Brisbane City (Australia).

Health outcomes included mild or worse depression, as determined from a 7 -item questionnaire; treatment for high BP; perceptions of social cohesion derived from three survey questions; and the self-reported number of days on which physical exercise occurred for more than 30 minutes during the survey week. Experiences of nature were measured across three components, including the usual frequency of outdoor green space visits over a year; the average duration of visits to green space across a week; and the intensity of nature (measured as the highest level of vegetation complexity) within any of the green spaces.

The results showed that a longer duration of individual nature experiences is significantly linked to lower prevalence of depression and high BP, increased levels of physical activity, and greater social cohesion. The higher levels of physical activity were linked to both duration and frequency of green space visits. A dose-response analysis for depression and high BP suggested that visits to outdoor green spaces for 30 minutes or more during the course of a week could reduce the prevalence of these illnesses by up to 7% and 9%, respectively. The study was published on June 23, 2016, in Nature Scientific Reports.

“Given that the societal costs of depression alone in Australia are estimated at AUD 12.6 billion per annum, savings to public health budgets across all health outcomes could be immense,” concluded lead author Danielle Shanahan, PhD, of CEED. “Our children especially benefit from spending more time outdoors. Kids who grow up experiencing natural environments may benefit developmentally and have a heightened environmental awareness as adults than those who don't.”

Related Links:
University of Queensland
Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions
University of Exeter