HOW do you feel after you go for a rural walk? In a green place, whether in city or countryside, being close to nature seems to improve our well-being, even when it is bitterly cold, fiendishly hot, or pouring with rain. The moderate physical activity of walking in an environment like this seems to bring clear benefits to physical health and well-being.
In addition, there is growing evidence from the UK, Scandinavia and the US that being active outdoors (鈥済reen exercise鈥�, for short) can also bring substantial mental health benefits by reducing stress levels and enhancing mood. Here in the UK at the University of Essex, our research has shown that from walking and horse-riding to fishing and running, regardless of level of activity or time spent, physical activities improve psychological well-being by enhancing mood and self-esteem, and reduce anger, confusion, depression and tension. Exercising with others also seems to improve social networking and connectedness.
Of our subjects, three-quarters felt less depressed, tense and angry after green exercise; two-thirds reported an overall improvement in mood, and almost two-thirds an improved level of self-esteem. All groups showed gains in average self-esteem and mood levels.
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We also compared the effects of running on a treadmill while runners were faced with one of four views, which we classified as rural pleasant, rural unpleasant, urban pleasant and urban unpleasant. There was also a control group who had no view at all, as in most gyms. 鈥淩ural pleasant鈥� was the winner, with improved psychological outcomes and substantially reduced blood pressure, while the 鈥渦rban unpleasant鈥� view came bottom. Runners with 鈥渘o view鈥� fared better than those viewing gritty urban scenes.
Establishing emotional connections with the environment also inspires people to think about conservation and climate change, which, in turn, is likely to encourage environmentally friendly behaviours 鈥� a virtuous cycle of benefit to the environment.
All these positive outcomes have implications for direct intervention. For people who are physically or mentally unwell, this translates into 鈥済reen care鈥�, while 鈥済reen design鈥� relates to the redesign of environments such as buildings, gardens, urban areas or rural landscapes so that people can be well physically and mentally.
One example of green care was a joint research project we ran with the British mental health charity Mind, in which we compared the effects of a walk in the woods with a walk in a large shopping mall in people who had been diagnosed with mental health problems. After the outdoor walk, 90 per cent of the participants reported significantly improved self-esteem, compared with 5 per cent whose self-esteem had got worse. After the indoor walk, only 17 per cent reported improved self-esteem, and 44 per cent reported worse. Clearly, nature delivers important health benefits if we reorganise lifestyles and behaviours.
鈥淲e compared the effects of running on a treadmill where runners faced rural and urban views鈥�
Straightforward as this sounds, it is easier said than done. We are so used to travelling by car that walking or cycling have become inconceivable for many. We have also become used to long working hours that leave insufficient time for physical activity. Then there is the fact that work itself is much more sedentary than in recent generations: 50 years ago the extra physical activity undertaken by the average person compared with their counterpart today was the equivalent of running a marathon every week. That is a big gap to make up.
At this time of year we need little reminding of the link between modern diets and sedentary lifestyles and the rapid rise in obesity and obesity-related diseases. The numbers seriously alarm governments, not least because of the billions this adds to health costs, yet they seem unable to think beyond publicity that exhorts us to eat more fruit and vegetables or take weekly doses of physical activity.
The messages fall largely on deaf ears, and new, joined-up solutions are badly needed instead. Governments must abandon both top-down health targets and demand-driven thinking that relies on convincing people to change their habits. What is needed is a rethink of the design of cities, towns and villages, and the spaces within to make green exercise on a daily basis easy and almost inevitable.
At the same time, stress and mental ill health are rising sharply in industrialised countries. The annual cost of mental illness in the UK alone is 拢77 billion, and the reduced quality of life, disability and distress it causes are unquantifiable. Green care could save millions on antidepressants that don鈥檛 always work. Green thinking also offers opportunities for rehabilitating youth offenders: instead of locking them all up, some could benefit from 鈥渃are farms鈥� where activity and the rhythms of farm life may bring new meaning.
Above all, policy-makers need to appreciate that our environment and nature are not only important national resources with inherent value for biodiversity, but could also be a key part of our healthcare systems.
