CHILDREN exposed regularly to nature may be less likely to suffer mental health problems in adulthood, according to research led by La Caixa bank's scientific unit.
Data were extracted from 3,600 people from areas of four countries – Barcelona, in Spain; Stoke-on-Trent, UK; Doetinchem, The Netherlands, and Kaunas, Lithuania, says the Barcelona Institute of Global Health (ISGlobal).
According to the results published in the International Journal of Environment Research and Public Health, a positive correlation was found between time spent in non-urban outdoor areas in childhood and better cognitive development and mental and physical well-being.
This correlation has been found to have a more or less immediate effect – nature and fresh air have long been thought to be beneficial for mind and body – but had not hitherto been tested for its longer-term qualities, or its impact on adulthood when exposed to it in childhood.
Also, prior studies have focused almost exclusively on 'green areas' – parks, gardens and woodlands – and rarely on 'blue areas', as the research terms them, such as ponds, streams, canals, rivers, lakes and beaches.
The investigation formed part of the European Phenotype Project – 'phenotype' being the combination of genes, or genotype, with the environment, seen in physical, mental and behavioural features that are part nature and part nurture – and involved a questionnaire for adult participants about how often they were exposed to nature as children.
These included both planned or intentional trips, such as excursions to mountains or visits to the park in their town, and also spontaneous ones, like playing in their gardens at home.
They were also asked about the amount and size of non-urban outdoor areas near where they currently lived, how much they used them and how satisfied they were with them.
A psychological examination assessed their level of nerves, anxiety and depression in the past four weeks, and also their levels of vitality – energy versus fatigue.
The amount and quality of non-urban outdoor areas near their homes were calculated by satellite imaging to compare and contrast with their self-report of this.
The results found overall poorer mental health results for those who had spent most of their childhood indoors or in heavily built-up areas compared with those who had spent a lot of their early years outdoors in the countryside, parks, or near water.
“In general, those who spent less time in contact with nature during their childhood have less enthusiasm about non-urban outdoor areas than those who spent more of their early years in the countryside,” said the main author of the research report, Myriam Preuss.
ISGlobal investigation coordinator Wilma Zijlema said the conclusions 'showed the relevance' of exposure to nature in childhood in 'developing an appreciation' for the natural world and in 'developing a healthy psychological state' in adulthood.
At present, 73% of Europe's population lives in built-up areas, frequently with no access to non-urban outdoor places, and this figure is predicted to rise to 80% by the year 2050.
“For this reason, it's crucial to know the implications for little boys and girls about growing up with limited opportunities to enjoy nature,” Ms Zijlema says.
“Many little girls and boys in Europe are used to living an indoor life, so it's a good idea to improve natural, outdoor spaces in towns and cities: increasing their number, designing them to be safer and make them more inviting to play in,” says environmental, town planning and health manager for ISGlobal.
BATTERIES from mobile phones, laptops and even cars are among those that must be recyclable within the next four years in accordance with a new European Union regulation, as explained by Spain's minister for...
YET again and for the 36th year running, Spain holds the record for the highest number of blue-flagged beaches in the world, with its east-coast region of the Comunidad Valenciana having more than any other.
