Contact with Nature and Our Health: What's the Connection?
January 23, 2014
More than a third of American adults are overweight or obese; 25% of adults in America suffer from mental illness, and rates of hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes are staggeringly high. Yet there may be a surprisingly simple medical intervention that could address these myriad problems: nature. Contact with nature has been found to lower rates of cardiovascular disease, obesity, depression, hypertension, and anxiety. In addition, access to nature is connected to better immune systems and fewer health issues in both adults and children.
At the Schuylkill Center�s Richard L. James Lecture on January 30, Dr. Michael Suk will discuss what this means for public health and what role green spaces and nature have to play in our healthcare system. The lecture, at 7 pm, is free and open to the public.
An expanding body of research reveals that for both children and adults, time in the diverse and unstructured environment of the natural world can have profound impacts on health and wellness. Contact with nature can have a positive impact on obesity, diabetes, anxiety, ADHD. Time at the gym or on the playing fields can�t replace the unique experience of being in nature.
Director of Education Gail Farmer notes that �scientists are making amazing discoveries linking human health with nature: ingesting dirt in early childhood improves a person�s immune system; populations of children who spend more time outside have fewer children with near-sightedness; being outdoors reduces stress, anxiety and hypertension; being outdoors improves cognitive function.� The benefits of time in nature, for people of all ages, are clear.
As Farmer puts it, �human anatomy and physiology have evolved over millennia in the context of the natural world. It is no wonder that our physical, mental, and emotional development and health are intricately connected to that environment.�
Farmer continues, �when you go to the gym and walk on the treadmill, you are investing in your physical health. But by taking that walk outside in a green space, you add emotional and mental health benefits as well. You triple the health impact of your time investment simply by going out in nature.�
But knowing we need to spend time in nature isn�t enough. More than 70% of the United States population now lives in an urban environment, according to the 2010 Census. American children spend only 30 minutes of unstructured time outdoors each week. One challenge raised by increasing urbanization is how to ensure meaningful access to nature for city residents. Given this challenge, the question of how to gain the benefits of time in nature is a matter of both personal and public health.
At the Richard L. James Lecture, Dr. Suk will explore how green spaces will play a role in public health. Dr. Suk is the Chief of Orthopaedic Surgery with the Geisinger Health System and, as a White House Fellow, led the National Park Service Parks Prescription Program � an initiative designed to improve physical, mental, and emotional health through contact with nature.
The annual Richard L. James Lecture, established in memory of the Schuylkill Center�s founding executive director, fosters dialogue and enrichment by highlighting leading voices in the environmental movement. The lecture series has focused on native plants and local biodiversity and on children and nature. Executive Director Mike Weilbacher notes, James �had an uncanny knack for finding the cutting edge in both education and the environment; if something new was happening, Dick would showcase it at the Schuylkill Center.�
Following in this tradition, at this year�s lecture, the Schuylkill Center will announce the Health and Wellness Initiative. The Health and Wellness Initiative will address the need for time in nature with monthly hikes, outdoor yoga and meditation, and numerous other programs designed to get Philadelphians back outside.
