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According to one study, a "dose" of nature of two hours a week significantly improves health and well-being, even if you just sit and enjoy peace.
The benefits to the physical and mental health of time spent in parks, woods or the beach are well known, but this new research is the first major study of the time required to produce this effect. If they were confirmed by future research, two hours in the wild could be considered official health tips: five fruits and vegetables a day and 150 minutes of exercise a week.
The discovery is based on interviews with 20,000 English in England about their activity the week before. Of those who spent little or no time in the wild, one-quarter said they were in poor health and nearly half said they were not happy with their lives, a standard measure of good health. -be. In contrast, only one-seventh of those who spent at least two hours in the wild said their health was poor, while one-third were not happy with their lives.
nature good for you graph
"What really surprised us was that it was true for just about every group we could think of," said Dr. Mathew White, of the University of Exeter School of Medicine, who led 'study. The benefits of a two-hour dose are the same for young and old, the rich and the poor, and the urban and rural, he said.
This also applied to people with long-term illnesses and disabilities, White said. "So going out in the wild seemed to be good for just about everyone. It does not have to be physical exercise, it can just be sitting on a bench. "
The researchers were also surprised by the fact that it did not matter whether the two hours in the wild were taken at one time or in a series of shorter visits, or that people go to an urban park, woodland or at the beach.
Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, President of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said, "It's fascinating to see this link between exposure to nature and better health and well-being. This research clearly shows that people can move in more natural environments.
"More generally, patients often benefit from non-medical interventions such as a physical training course, skill acquisition or participation in a community group – often referred to as a" social prescription ". However, given the pressures currently facing primary care, many GP practices [can’t] spend the necessary time with a patient to link him to the most appropriate activity. "
The research, published in the journal Scientific Reports, used data from a Natural England survey, the world's largest study gathering data on individuals' weekly contact with the natural world. This does not include the time people spend in their gardens because it has not been measured. But White said half of the residents felt their gardens were more of a chore than a pleasure anyway. The data showed that the threshold of positive impacts was two hours: spending much more than that in natural environments did not seem to have any additional benefits.
"I am continually surprised by the magnitude of the effect," White said. The improvement in health was the same as that demonstrated by previous studies, whether by taking the recommended levels of physical activity or living in affluent neighborhoods compared to poorer areas.
The study did not investigate why being in nature was so beneficial, but White suggested that a sense of tranquility may be the key: "Most people are subject to multiple pressures at some point. So you go in a natural setting, it's quiet, it's relaxing and it gives you time to start treating things.
"We are also seeing more and more that the rich biodiversity of an environment seems to be important. We recorded 4,500 visits from the same survey and find that the stress they receive is greater if the location was an area of outstanding natural beauty, a site of particular scientific interest or that sort of thing. "
The researchers took into account a number of factors to reach their conclusions, including the green character of the neighborhood, the levels of air pollution and whether they are married, have children or have a dog.
They could not completely take into account if strengthening health consisted of doing more exercise. But the researchers wrote: "Research on shinrin-yoku – the Japanese" forest bath "- suggested, for example, that various psychophysiological benefits can be derived from simple pbadive sitting in natural environments as opposed to urban environments. "
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