According to a new study from Finland, spending time in green spaces such as parks and gardens could help reduce the consumption of prescription drugs.
If you’re lucky enough to live next to a green meadow or a scenic wooded area, looking at those places from home doesn’t seem to have the same impact. There was no association between prescription drug use and the amount of green and water space available to people. It’s getting out there and spending time there that makes a difference.
Researchers from the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Tampere University in Finland and the University of Eastern Finland used data from around 6,000 Helsinki residents taking medication for conditions such as anxiety, insomnia, depressionHigh blood pressure and asthma as an indicator of their state of health.
“Exposure to natural environments is believed to be beneficial for human health, but evidence is conflicting,” write the researchers.
Study participants were asked about the medications they were taking, how many “green and blue” (natural environments on land and near lakes, rivers and oceans) rooms they could see from their home, and how often held those views, and how often they spent time or practiced in them.
Compared to less than one weekly visit, three or four visits per week were associated with a 33 percent lower likelihood of taking mental health medication, a 36 percent lower likelihood of taking blood pressure medication, and a 26 percent lower likelihood of taking the associated with asthma medication use.
These respective numbers decrease by 22 percent, 41 percent, and 24 percent, respectively, with at least five visits per week. The links persisted when household income and education were taken into account, but when BMI (body mass index) have weakened the associations.
“This finding is consistent with preliminary evidence emphasizing the importance of actual use of green space in relation to mental health, and suggests the same is true for other health conditions such as asthma and hypertension.” the researchers claim.
The data here isn’t enough to show cause and effect — it’s worth considering that those in better health have more opportunity and motivation to get outside — but it does show that there’s a potential connection here that’s worth exploring is to be further investigated.
It also shows that sitting and contemplating nature doesn’t quite have the same effect as going out and being in it. previous studies have shown that it doesn’t take long for the effects of being outside to be felt.
However, green spaces must be available before people can step out and spend time in them — and that’s where urban planning comes in, according to the authors behind the new study.
“Gathering scientific evidence demonstrating the health benefits of exposure to nature is likely to increase the supply of quality green space in urban settings and encourage its active use,” write the researchers.
“This could be a way to improve health and well-being in cities.”
The research was published in Occupational and environmental medicine.
