There are many benefits from spending time in nature as shown below.
Physical Benefits
- Sunlight
- Vitamin D (lowers blood pressure, decreases risk of colon, prostrate, and pancreatic cancers)
- Increases calcium uptake - Better diet (kids who garden eat more vegetables)
- Immune system strengthening (kids who play outside have stronger immune systems)
- Promotes healing
- Reduces pain
- Decreases the effects of jet lag
- Increases life expectancy
- Provides opportunities for exercise
- Decreases BMI
- Lowers systolic blood pressure
- Reduces avoidable disease risk factors
- Reduces cancer risk
- Reduces osteoporosis risk
Psychological-emotional
- Restorative
- Stress reduction
- Attention restoration
- Improves mood states
- Reduces depression
- Reduces anger and anxiety
- Enhances feelings of pleasure
- Increases mental acuity (kids who grow plants scored 12% higher on academic tests)
- Reduces mental fatigue
- Improve problem solving ability and concentration
- Improves body image for women
- Reduces the impact of stress
- Increases feelings of empowerment
- Encourages nurturing characteristics
- Decreases risk of seasonal affective disorder (SAD)
- Mitigate impact of dementia, including Alzheimer’s
Spiritual Benefits
- Gives children a sense of peace and oneness with the world
- Sparks creativity and imagination
- Inspires connections with the wider world
- Increases a sense of wonder
- Encourages reflection
- Quiets the mind
Society’s benefits
- Cuts crime
- Strengthens family relations
- Decrease domestic violence
- Strengthens neighborhood ties
- Assists new immigrants cope with transition
- Cost effective health promotion
- Environmental economics – increases preference for environmental quality over other goods
- Increases environmental activism
- Increases park planning
- Preserves biodiversity
- Stimulates social interactions among children
From The Healing Power of Nature: The Need for Nature for Human Health, Development, and Wellbeing by Denise Mitten, PhD, Ferris State University