© Children & Nature NetworkResearch and Studies – Volume FiveNovember 2011
Focus: Health benefits
These articles examine relationships between children’s outdoor-related behavior and naturecontact and their physical, mental, and social health and well-being.
Physical activity and exposure to nature are important to good health
In this literature review, Pretty and colleagues examine the role of physical activity and naturecontact on health and well-being, with a particular focus on children. The authors discuss thecurrent state of physical inactivity, the positive health benefits of nature contact, and the potentialrole of green exercise (activity in the presence of nature) toward improving health and well-being.Pretty and colleagues review three stages of childhood and their differing needs, evidence regarding children’s physical activity levels, and the benefits of children’s exposure to nature. The authorsdiscuss the impact of urban design and green space in terms of physical activity and various healthoutcomes, including cognitive health and learning, as well as the impact of nature-basedinterventions, such as care farms and wilderness therapy, for children with special needs. Based ontheir review, Pretty and colleagues propose two conceptual pathways—healthy and unhealthy—thatshape our lives and life outcomes. On the healthy pathway, people are active, connected to peopleand society, engage with natural places, and eat healthy foods and as a result tend to live longer andhave a better quality of life. On the unhealthy pathway, people are inactive, disconnected to peopleand society, do not engage with natural places, and eat unhealthy foods, and as a result die earlierand have a lower quality of life. In concluding their review, Pretty and colleagues make tenrecommendations to improve people’s well-being, including increasing children’s outdoor free play and encouraging planners to incorporate access to green space.
Author Affiliation: Jules Pretty is with the University of Essex in the UK.
Pretty, J., Angus, C., Bain, M., Barton, J., Gladwell, V., Hine, R., et al. (2009).
Nature, childhood,health and life pathways
: University of Essex.
This report is available online at:http://www.essex.ac.uk/ces/occasionalpapers/Nature%20Childhood%20and%20Health%20iCES%20Occ%20Paper%202009-2%20FINAL.pdf