Jj is for Jottings 117.  Green Spaces and Children’s Mental Health.

Research into the effects of access to green spaces and children’s mental health is emerging.  Of course, access to green spaces is important for adults as well, but lately the research has related to children.  Let’s have a look at some of it.

QUANTITY OF GREEN SPACES – A HUGE DANISH STUDY.

The most recent study, from Aarhus University in Denmark, analysed satellite data from 1985 to 2013.  It then mapped the presence of green space around the childhood homes of almost one million Danes.  (“Green space” refers to parks, gardens, reserves and sports fields.)  They compared this data with the risk of developing one of 16 different mental disorders later in life.   The data they used came from Danish registers of residential location and disease diagnoses, amongst other things.

The study found that children surrounded by the higher amounts of green space had up to a 55 % lower risk of developing a mental disorder.  This was after adjusting for other known risk factors such as socioeconomic status, urbanisation and a family history of mental disorders.

The risk of developing a mental disorder decreased incrementally the longer a child has been surrounded by green space from birth and up to age 10.  And of course green spaces encourage a greater degree of movement , which is essential for visual development and learning.

QUALITY OF GREEN SPACES – AN AUSTRALIAN STUDY.

In 2017, researchers from the University of Wollongong found the presence of higher-quality green space was “especially beneficial for mental wellbeing as the children got older”.  (A quote from the researchers.)

This resulted in widening inequality in mental wellbeing across childhood between those with and without access to quality green space.

The researchers examined mental wellbeing in relation to local green space quantity and quality in about 5,000 children.  They were aged between 4 and 5 in 2004 and followed up every two years after that.

They measured child mental health using the internationally regarded Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire.  This gave insights into changes in emotional states, such as stress and anxiety, and behavioural problems, ranging from lack of concentration to impulsiveness. It was measured over multiple time points as children aged.

The quality of local green space was determined by a survey of parents.

The study found that between 21 and 40 % of land allocated to green space may be an optimal amount for promoting child mental health.  That’s the quantity part, but the quality of this green space increases in importance as they age.  Children in areas with more than 40 % green space did not have significantly better mental health than those with 21 to 40 % green space.  It seems that 40% is the threshold.

Part of the green space/mental health issue in children may be that, in the absence of green spaces, they are spending more time on screens.  For parental observations on the effects of screen time on children, see here.

FURTHER STUDY INTO GREEN SPACES IS NEEDED.

What they need to do now is compare the effects of one big green space with smaller, but higher quality and better-connected green spaces.  This will all have huge implications for town-planning.

GENERAL EFFECTS OF GREEN SPACES ON PEOPLE – PREVIOUS RESEARCH.

Previous research has found:

• People recover more quickly in hospital when they have a view of nature.  (They built a new hospital in a nearby regional city some years ago.  They were so keen to include green places that they forgot to link one of them to an external doorway.  The result was that they had to bring mowers through the hospital corridors to keep the green space in good order.  Oops!)
• The attention spans of students are better when they can interact with green and open spaces.
• Domestic dysfunction and levels of incivility are lower in neighbourhoods with good access to trees and green space.
• Levels of hypertension, overweight and obesity are lower where people can walk through or relax in green leafy parklands.

On the other hand:

• Temperatures are higher in parts of a city where there is little green cover, as are pollution levels and the stress levels of the residents. People in these neighbourhoods often have greater exposure to environmental stressors (such as noise). They can also have lower levels of mental resilience, reduced cognitive performance, and are more prone to experiencing social isolation and loneliness.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR YOUR CHILDREN?

If you live in an area where there is little green space available, you need to be aware of this and to make that extra effort to take your children to parks to play in, and go for family walks and bike rides in suitable green spaces.  For those of us who are lucky enough to live in the countryside, it’s something you won’t have to think about so much.  That is, as long as the children actually are  playing outside, and not sitting inside using screens.  (See effects of screen time on children.)

I think most people will find that these studies are in keeping with their own experience – that getting out in nature has a de-stressing and calming effect.  But it may not have occurred to us to directly link that with our children’s mental health.

 

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