More time outdoors may mean less need for medication

February 6, 2023 – City dwellers who visited parks, community gardens or other green spaces were often less likely to need medication for depression, high blood pressure or asthma than those who did not, according to a new Finnish study.

The link between frequent visits to green spaces and lower use of these drugs did not depend on household income level or other social or economic factors, although obesity appeared to negate the benefits of being outdoors often. outdoors in nature.

According to lead author Anu W. Turunen, PhD, of the Institute of Finland, the growing scientific evidence supporting the health benefits of exposure to nature should make more green spaces of high quality available in urban environments and promote the use of these spaces. for health and wellness in Kuopio, Finland.

The conclusions were published online January 16 in the newspaper Occupational and environmental medicine.

Researchers asked 7,321 randomly selected residents in three major urban centers in Finland – Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa – how often they visited green spaces and blue spaces (water bodies) within a kilometer from their home, and also if they could see green or blue spaces from all the windows of their house.

Green spaces have been defined as forests, gardens, parks, castle parks, cemeteries, zoos, meadows, moors and wetlands. Blue areas were defined as seas, lakes and rivers.

Respondents were also asked if they took medication for anxiety, insomnia, depression, high blood pressure and asthma.

Compared with people who used green spaces the least, those who used them the most were about a third less likely to need any of these drugs.

Specifically, those who said they visited a green space three to four times a week were 33% less likely to use mental health medication, 36% less likely to use blood pressure medication, and 26% less likely to use asthma medications.

“These results are important because they add to the growing body of evidence showing that being close to nature is good for the health of our patients,” says Jochem Klompmaker, PhD, of Harvard Medical School in Boston, who is not did not participate in this research but did work in this area.

“We should encourage our patients to take more walks, and if they live near a park, that might be a good place to start being more physically active and lowering their stress levels,” he says.