Two hours a week is key dose of nature for health and wellbeing Research

Authored by exeter.ac.uk and submitted by mvea

Two hours a week is key dose of nature for health and wellbeing

Spending at least two hours a week in nature may be a crucial threshold for promoting health and wellbeing, according to a new large-scale study.

Research led by the University of Exeter, published in Scientific Reports and funded by NIHR, found that people who spend at least 120 minutes in nature a week are significantly more likely to report good health and higher psychological wellbeing than those who don’t visit nature at all during an average week. However, no such benefits were found for people who visited natural settings such as town parks, woodlands, country parks and beaches for less than 120 minutes a week.

The study used data from nearly 20,000 people in England and found that it didn’t matter whether the 120 minutes was achieved in a single visit or over several shorter visits. It also found the 120 minute threshold applied to both men and women, to older and younger adults, across different occupational and ethnic groups, among those living in both rich and poor areas, and even among people with long term illnesses or disabilities.

Dr Mat White, of the University of Exeter Medical School, who led the study, said: “It’s well known that getting outdoors in nature can be good for people’s health and wellbeing but until now we’ve not been able to say how much is enough. The majority of nature visits in this research took place within just two miles of home so even visiting local urban greenspaces seems to be a good thing. Two hours a week is hopefully a realistic target for many people, especially given that it can be spread over an entire week to get the benefit.”

There is growing evidence that merely living in a greener neighbourhood can be good for health, for instance by reducing air pollution. The data for the current research came from Natural England’s Monitor of Engagement with the Natural Environment Survey, the world’s largest study collecting data on people’s weekly contact with the natural world.

Co-author of the research, Professor Terry Hartig of Uppsala University in Sweden said: “There are many reasons why spending time in nature may be good for health and wellbeing, including getting perspective on life circumstances, reducing stress, and enjoying quality time with friends and family. The current findings offer valuable support to health practitioners in making recommendations about spending time in nature to promote basic health and wellbeing, similar to guidelines for weekly physical”.

The full paper is entitled "Spending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is associated with good health and wellbeing", published in Scientific Reports.

Award930 on June 14th, 2019 at 13:55 UTC »

This might just be anecdotal but I’ll throw in my 2 cents. I’ve suffered from depression my entire life. When I lived in areas that were close to hikes and regularly went on hikes, my mental health was great. For me being out in the sun and working my way to a goal (the end of the hike) was a satisfying and felt good. When I moved to a big city that’s far from nature and hikes and stopped going as much, my depression was much more prevalent.

ManoLorca on June 14th, 2019 at 11:24 UTC »

For my side job I interview psychologists for a magazine and blog.

I had the opportunity to talk with now Dr. Passmore, that also investigated the effect of nature on human beings. She conducted a reasearch, where participants had to take photos of either nature in their everyday lives, such as trees, plants, grass, parks or the sky, or awing buildings and then write a couple of sentences of the nature or the building made them feel. It came out that even thinking about the nature that surrounds us everyday can make a hight impact on our lives. We're more hopeful, with higher well being scores and with a more positive outlook for the future. This was also confirmed by many other following studies.

So if you can't make a round-trip every week, or go walking or something, at least be sure to take in the nature around you. It is good for your wellbeing.

mvea on June 14th, 2019 at 10:24 UTC »

The title of the post is a copy and paste from the subtitle and first two paragraphs of the linked academic press release here:

Spending at least two hours a week in nature may be a crucial threshold for promoting health and wellbeing, according to a new large-scale study.

Research led by the University of Exeter, published in Scientific Reports and funded by NIHR, found that people who spend at least 120 minutes in nature a week are significantly more likely to report good health and higher psychological wellbeing than those who don’t visit nature at all during an average week.

The study used data from nearly 20,000 people in England and found that it didn’t matter whether the 120 minutes was achieved in a single visit or over several shorter visits.

Journal Reference:

Mathew P. White, Ian Alcock, James Grellier, Benedict W. Wheeler, Terry Hartig, Sara L. Warber, Angie Bone, Michael H. Depledge, Lora E. Fleming.

Spending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is associated with good health and wellbeing.

Scientific Reports, 2019; 9 (1)

Link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-44097-3

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-44097-3

Abstract

Spending time in natural environments can benefit health and well-being, but exposure-response relationships are under-researched. We examined associations between recreational nature contact in the last seven days and self-reported health and well-being. Participants (n = 19,806) were drawn from the Monitor of Engagement with the Natural Environment Survey (2014/15–2015/16); weighted to be nationally representative. Weekly contact was categorised using 60 min blocks. Analyses controlled for residential greenspace and other neighbourhood and individual factors. Compared to no nature contact last week, the likelihood of reporting good health or high well-being became significantly greater with contact ≥120 mins (e.g. 120–179 mins: ORs [95%CIs]: Health = 1.59 [1.31–1.92]; Well-being = 1.23 [1.08–1.40]). Positive associations peaked between 200–300 mins per week with no further gain. The pattern was consistent across key groups including older adults and those with long-term health issues. It did not matter how 120 mins of contact a week was achieved (e.g. one long vs. several shorter visits/week). Prospective longitudinal and intervention studies are a critical next step in developing possible weekly nature exposure guidelines comparable to those for physical activity.