Most people recognize that being closer to Nature is good for your health. New research is confirming that it may actually help extend your life!

A study just published in this month’s (November 2019) issue of the prestigious medical journal The Lancet has found that living closer to Nature can increase your chances of living longer.

Specifically, this study looked at research following people over 4-22 years and monitored how many of them died of any cause. Comparing these mortality rates to the amount of Nature or “green space” (determined by satellite imagery) outside of their homes showed a definitive and statistical relationship between green space and reductions in mortality rate.

In areas with higher levels of green space, people were more likely to live longer. And it did not take much of an increase in greenery to demonstrate a reduction in mortality; just a few extra trees were enough to show a difference. (For those that like to get geeky, All-Cause Mortality Hazard Ratio 0.96 (95%CI 0.94-0.97) for every 0.1 increase in NVDI).

Living in greener areas may help people live longer, and the amounts don’t need to be that much.

This study included adjustments for income and other aspects of socio-economic status (SES), ruling this out as a Determinant of Health that produced these specific results. (In general people with more wealth typically live in greener areas AND also live longer for reasons that are unrelated to the amount of green space around their home. This research accounted for these SES factors and showed that people in greener areas were more likely to live longer independent of how much wealth and status they had.)

These findings are very important and have many implications for how we live and plan our lives, individually and collectively.

Many previous studies have explored the reasons that account for these associations between green space and health. It will be many years until we understand all the factors involved, but some of the currently proven health benefits include:

Increased opportunity for/engagement in physical activity
Improved air quality and reduction in harmful air pollution
Greater opportunity for social & community interaction
Reduced harmful mental and physical impacts of stress.

These factors have definitively been shown to have positive impacts on many different measures of health and well-being. As more research becomes available, we will gain a greater understanding of exactly how these relationships between green space and mortality occur. (It is the purpose of this blog to share that information with you!). Until then, it should be enough to work with the general concept that “Nature is Good for You!”

This study was a meta-analysis (a statistical combination) of nine smaller studies involving 8.3 million people in 7 different countries (including 2 studies done in the United States). For anyone that likes statistics, this many people means it was a highly significant study with profound implications.

This is one of the largest meta-analytic studies of its kind, and its publication in a prestigious journal like The Lancet means that this type of research is starting to be taken seriously by medical and public health researchers. Mainstream media sources like CNN have been reporting on these findings, further adding to the acceptance of this type of research.

As this information is shared in the academic and popular media, this blog will share it with you so these ideas can be understood and incorporated into our lives, communities, decisions and health.

If you find this information interesting, or have any thoughts about this or other topics you would like to see covered by this blog, please Like or Comment below.

Citations:

Rojas-Rueda D, Nieuwenhuijsen M, Gascon M, Perez-Leon D, Mudu P. Green spaces and mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies. Lancet Planet Heal. 2019;19(970):e469-e477. doi:10.1016/S2542-5196(19)30215-3
Krisberg K. Income inequality: When wealth determines health: Earnings influential as lifelong social determinant of health. Nations Health. 2016;46(8). http://thenationshealth.aphapublications.org/content/46/8/1.1. Accessed November 26, 2019.
Hartig R, Mitchell RJ, de Vries S, Frumkin H. Nature and health. Annu Rev Public Health. 2014;35(December 2013):207-228. doi:10.1146/annurev-publhealth-032013-182443
Twohig-bennett C, Jones A. The health benefits of the great outdoors: A systematic review and meta-analysis of greenspace exposure and health outcomes. Environ Res. 2018;166(June):628-637. doi:10.1016/j.envres.2018.06.030