homehome Home chatchat Notifications


Spending just 2 hours a week in nature promotes health and wellbeing

Spend some time in nature this weekend.

Tibi Puiu
June 14, 2019 @ 4:43 pm

share Share

Credit: Pixabay.

Credit: Pixabay.

British researchers found that spending at least 120 minutes in nature a week improves your health and psychological wellbeing. This is yet another study that underscores the importance of reconnecting with nature.

The study involved nearly 20,000 people in England, whose outdoor habits were surveyed by a team of researchers at the University of Exeter. The study found that spending time in a natural setting (town parks, woodlands, country parks, beaches, and so on) was associated with higher levels of self-reported good health and psychological wellbeing — as long as they spent at least two hours outdoors every week. Those who didn’t cross the 120-minute threshold experienced no such benefits.

“It’s well known that getting outdoors in nature can be good for people’s health and wellbeing but until now we’ve not been able to say how much is enough. The majority of nature visits in this research took place within just two miles of home so even visiting local urban greenspaces seems to be a good thing. Two hours a week is hopefully a realistic target for many people, especially given that it can be spread over an entire week to get the benefit,” said Dr. Mat White, of the University of Exeter Medical School.

Previously, another study found people who spent time in natural settings reported greater feelings of relaxation and lower levels of stress, as well as stronger emotional connections to the natural world — the more time they spent in nature, the more they cared about it. Children might stand to benefit the most by spending time in nature — according to a 2019 study, children with a stronger connection to nature had less distress and hyperactivity, as well as fewer behavioral and emotional difficulties and improved pro-social behavior.

There’s much we don’t know about the relationship between nature and human wellbeing. For instance, how do people’s relationships with nature form? How do they influence personal values and attitudes? And what behavioral implications do they have? These are interesting questions that research in the future might answer. In the meantime, try a walk in the park — it might do you a lot of good.

“There are many reasons why spending time in nature may be good for health and wellbeing, including getting perspective on life circumstances, reducing stress, and enjoying quality time with friends and family. The current findings offer valuable support to health practitioners in making recommendations about spending time in nature to promote basic health and wellbeing, similar to guidelines for weekly physical,” said Professor Terry Hartig of Uppsala University in Sweden, who is a co-author of the research published in Scientific Reports.

share Share

Mars Seems to Have a Hot, Solid Core and That's Surprisingly Earth-Like

Using a unique approach to observing marsquakes, researchers propose a structure for Mars' core.

New Catalyst Recycles Plastics Without Sorting. It Even Works on Dirty Trash

A nickel catalyst just solved the biggest problem in plastic recycling.

Scientists Just Discovered a Massive Source of Drinking Water Hiding Beneath the Atlantic Ocean

Scientists drill off Cape Cod and uncover vast undersea aquifers that may reshape our water future.

Your Next Therapist Could be a Video Game or a Wearable and It Might Actually Work

An inside look at a new wave of evidence-backed digital therapies.

This Bizarre Deep Sea Fish Uses a Tooth-Covered Forehead Club to Grip Mates During Sex

Scientists studying a strange deep sea fish uncovered the first true teeth outside the jaw.

Researchers Discovered How to Trap Cancer Cells by "Reprogramming" Their Environment

Scientists find a way to stop glioblastoma cells by stiffening a key brain molecule

Daddy longlegs have two more eyes they've been hiding from us

The eyes are relics form their evolutionary past.

Ultra-Processed Foods Made Healthy Young Men Gain Fat and Lose Sperm Quality in Just Three Weeks

Processed foods harmed hormones and fertility markers even with identical calories.

A New Solar Panel Shield Made From Onion Peels Outlasted Industry Plastics in Tests

Natural dye from discarded onion peels outperforms fossil-based UV filters in durability and performance

NYC Man Was Jailed for Days Because of a Blurry CCTV Image and a Faulty AI Match

Flawed tech, false ID, and two days behind bars: how it happened anyway.