Green Spaces May Help

Some people who live within a 1km radius to green spaces such as parks or gardens have modestly lower rates of 15 out of 24 major diseases,Dutch researchers found in a groundbreaking study recently.This was especially true for mental illnesses.Those with a 90% green environment were rather less likely to suffer from anxiety or depression than those with only 10% green surroundings.
Other diseases that were less common in some living near nature include diabetes,asthma,digestive trouble,back and neck conditions.The researchers studied the medical records and residences of 345,000 people in the Netherlands,as reported by general practice physicians rather than people themselves,as in previous studies.Their results were published in the December 2009 Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
It may be that those who live near parks and gardens get more exercise,breathe better air and have less stressful sensory stimuli than other,more urbanized citizens,which is resulting in somewhat better health prospects for some of them.The effect was strongest for those in lower socioeconomic strata and did not obtain in heavily urbanized areas.