Spending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is associated with good health and wellbeing

Abstract

Spending time in natural environments can benefit health and well-being, but exposure-response relationships are under-researched. We examined associations between recreational nature contact in the last seven days and self-reported health and well-being. Participants (n = 19,806) were drawn from the Monitor of Engagement with the Natural Environment Survey (2014/15-2015/16); weighted to be nationally representative. Weekly contact was categorised using 60 min blocks. Analyses controlled for residential greenspace and other neighbourhood and individual factors. Compared to no nature contact last week, the likelihood of reporting good health or high well-being became significantly greater with contact ≥120 mins (e.g. 120-179 mins: ORs [95%CIs]: Health = 1.59 [1.31-1.92]; Well-being = 1.23 [1.08-1.40]). Positive associations peaked between 200-300 mins per week with no further gain. The pattern was consistent across key groups including older adults and those with long-term health issues. It did not matter how 120 mins of contact a week was achieved (e.g. one long vs. several shorter visits/week). Prospective longitudinal and intervention studies are a critical next step in developing possible weekly nature exposure guidelines comparable to those for physical activity.

Figure 1

The odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals of reporting good health and high well-being as a function of nature visit duration in the last 7 days (0 mins = reference category). Note: Adjusted for urbanicity, neighbourhood greenspace, area deprivation, background PM10, sex, age, SES, restricted functioning, physical activity, employment status, relationship status, ethnicity, children in household, dog ownership and year.

Figure 2

The probability of reporting (a) good health and (b) high well-being (with 95% confidence intervals) as a function of time spent in nature in the last 7 days using a generalised additive model (GAM) with a penalized cubic spline for nature contact. Note. The GAM is adjusted for urbanicity, neighbourhood greenspace, area deprivation, background PM10, sex, age, SES, restricted functioning, physical activity, employment status, relationship status, ethnicity, children in household, dog ownership and year.

Figure 3

The odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals of reporting good health and high well-being as a function of nature visits and selected covariates (controlling for all other covariates).