2014 / Green spaces, Health and well-being, Stress

Nature and Health

Citation

Hartig, T., Mitchell, R., De Vries, S., & Frumkin, H. (2014). Nature and Health. Annual Review of Public Health, 35, 207-228. doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-032013-182443

Link to file

In many parts of the world, urbanization, resource use, and modern lifestyles have reduced people’s chances to connect with nature. Worry about this loss has helped drive research into how nature contact affects human health. This review looks at that research, focusing on nature as it relates to features of the physical environment that planners, designers, and policymakers can use to benefit large numbers of people in urban areas.

The review covers several topics:

The challenge of defining “nature”
Why this research field is growing
An assessment of existing studies

It then examines four main pathways through which nature may affect health — air quality, physical activity, social connections, and stress reduction. Finally, it discusses research methods and priorities for future work.

The existing research does show a range of health benefits from contact with nature, and the evidence for some of those benefits is strong. However, some findings suggest caution is needed before applying these ideas broadly, and there are still major gaps in what is known.

Abstract

Some pathways through which the natural environment can affect the health of broad segments of populations. Four of the pathways go through contact with nature,whereas two others go directly from the natural environment to air quality and stress, respectively, implying that the natural environment may affect health without an individual or group consciously engaging with nature as such. Associations between variables at the different steps in a given pathway are subject to modification by characteristics of the people or the context. The two-headed arrow between the natural environment and contact with nature acknowledges that these are joined in a reciprocal relationship. The two-headed arrows between the variables designating pathways (air quality, physical activity, social contacts, and stress) also speak to their reciprocal relatedness; however, each may be related with all the others and not only with the one adjacent. Abbreviations: CHD, coronary heart disease; CVD, cardiovascular disease. — Figure 1: Some pathways through which the natural environment can affect the health of broad segments of populations.

Urbanization, resource exploitation, and lifestyle changes have diminished possibilities for human contact with nature in many societies. Concern about the loss has helped motivate research on the health benefits of contact with nature. Reviewing that research here, we focus on nature as represented by aspects of the physical environment relevant to planning, design, and policy measures that serve broad segments of urbanized societies. We discuss difficulties in defining “nature” and reasons for the current expansion of the research field, and we assess available reviews. We then consider research on pathways between nature and health involving air quality, physical activity, social cohesion, and stress reduction. Finally, we discuss methodological issues and priorities for future research. The extant research does describe an array of benefits of contact with nature, and evidence regarding some benefits is strong; however, some findings indicate caution is needed in applying beliefs about those benefits, and substantial gaps in knowledge remain.