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Five ways nature can improve our health

How does nature benefit our health? Many of us intuitively know that we simply feel better after ‘stepping out for some fresh air.’ Now over 30 years of research has begun to reveal exactly what health benefits we get from nature. Here are five reasons why we need to make space and time for nature in our lives.

Our physical health improves when we spend time in nature.

Spending just ten minutes in a natural environment is enough to lower your blood pressure. Generally speaking, your stress levels and mental fatigue drop when you visit green spaces, and they also provide a great place for exercise. These effects can have an impressive and lasting impact on your physical health. For example, hospital patients who have a view of nature from their window have been found to heal faster and are discharged earlier than those with a view of a wall, and people who live in greener environments tend die less often from circulatory disease. But there other less intuitive benefits from spending time in nature. For example, children who are exposed to the more diverse bacterial life in the soils around well-vegetated areas can build a more robust immune system, and tend to suffer less from allergies. All up, the full suit of physical benefits we get from nature inevitably reduce the cost of public health.

Natural environments support good mental health.

The relief from stress and mental fatigue that we gain when we spend time in nature not only impacts our physical health, but it can also enhance our mental well-being. Exercising in a natural environment can boost your mood and self-esteem, and can also reduce the symptoms of depression – much more so than exercising indoors. Yet you can also get some of these benefits just by looking at a view of nature out the window. Workers with a view of trees tend to have greater job satisfaction, as well as lower stress levels, than people with no view of trees.

All images courtesy of Danielle Shanahan.
All images courtesy of Danielle Shanahan.

Nature creates a healthier living environment.

Until recently the public health community has focused mainly on the down-sides of nature in cities. For example, mosquitos that carry disease or pollen that causes allergies. But we now know that nature can also make our living environment much healthier. Trees and shrubs filter the pollutants out of the air we breathe. Vegetation also absorbs and reflects heat, providing an inexpensive way to regulate the temperature and prevent heat-related illnesses or deaths in hot-climate cities. These are just two examples of the services that nature provides for people.

Public green spaces create happy communities.

City green spaces provide us with a place to see and interact with people who live in our neighbourhoods. This can foster social cohesion – that is, a sense of trust and familiarity with the people who live near us. People who are lonely or socially isolated have poorer general health as well as mental health problems, so this is another way through which nature in cities can reduce public health care costs. Perhaps tied to this (as well as the lower levels of stress that we tend to feel in natural environments), a number of studies have now recorded a link between green space and lower levels of violent crime.

Experiences with nature enhance our cognitive performance.

Our lives are becoming increasingly busy, but spending time in nature can provide a welcome respite from constant work and home pressures. This has a remarkable effect on how well we do at school and at work. For example, studies have shown people improve in memory tasks after looking at pictures of nature or walking through natural environments, and high school students with a view of nature from their school rooms achieve better exam results. This may have a longer-term impact on our well-being and achievements in life.

City green spaces are freely accessible to all. They could therefore be used to reduce inequalities in health outcomes that we often see across socio-economic gradients. As scientists develop a better understanding of exactly what elements of nature deliver what health benefits, how often we need to visit, and for how long, it could also be better integrated into city planning to reflect the health needs of different communities.

Recent Comments

  1. Lyn

    I totally agree with this concept. Even with the chilly temperatures we have at the moment I feel so much more alive once I have spent time in the environment.

    The children at school are so much happier if they can get out in the fresh air, they are soon warm after running around.

    The only disappointment nowadays is that with current OSH rules children are not allowed to climb trees to get the full appreciation of nature

  2. Branson

    GO NATURE!

  3. Ellen Hughes

    You got my attention when you said that a view of trees can lower stress level and boost your mood. My husband and I are planning to redecorate our living room. It’s our go-to place when we want to relax since we don’t have the time to go out to personally connect with nature. Our goal is to make sure that our living room is going to be decorated with items that can make us feel calm and relaxed, so we’ll consider shopping for stock nature photos.

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