Experiencing Nature Improves Mental Health
Connecting with nature directly and indirectly improves childhood mental health. Higher levels of greenness on school grounds are also associated with increased sense of restoration and quality of life.
The level of nearby, proximal greenness, also known as natural outdoor environments, impacts children’s long-term health and well-being. Access to green space is a social and physical determinant of health. Higher levels of residential natural outdoor environments in childhood are associated with lower risks of mental health conditions in adulthood, including depression.
With an alarming rise in the diagnosis of mental health, behavioral, and developmental conditions, nearby nature buffers symptoms such as stress and reduces anxiety. Students ages 12–18 report that higher levels of greenness on school grounds are associated with an increased sense of restoration and quality of life. Children with ADHD demonstrate reduced symptoms after spending 20 minutes outdoors.
Participation in outdoor education can support development of a positive body image and confidence in physical competence. Participation in outdoor adventure programs, in particular, can enhance female adolescents’ sense of their body and promote a shift from a focus on how they look to what their body can do.
© Maria Durana, San Francisco Recreation and Park Department
“Our school went from boring and sad to happy and colorful. I feel much more alive!”
Below are a quoted question and two answers from adolescent girls at an Australian outdoor education camp, as reported in a publication by Joelle Breault-Hart.
Question: “Do you believe that your outdoor education program influenced how you think about your body? If so, how?”
“At camp I started not to care about how I looked and more thought what I would be doing that day.”
“Yes. Personally, yes as it made me feel healthier and alive. In a way it was detox.”
© Paige Green, Education Outside
REFERENCES
Akpinar, A. (2016). How is high school greenness related to students’ restoration and health? Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 16, 1–8.
Breault-Hart, Joelle. (n.d.) “The impact of outdoor education on the body-image and self-efficacy of adolescent girls” [PowerPoint slides].
Capaldi, C., Passmore, H.-A., Nisbet, E., Zelenski, J., & Dopko, R. (2015). Flourishing in nature: A review of the benefits of connecting with nature and its application as a wellbeing intervention. International Journal of Wellbeing, 5(4), 1–16.
Kiewa, J. (2000). Outdoor adventure and body image: A change in focus. In L. West-Smith (Ed.), Body stories: Research and intimate narratives on women transforming body image in outdoor adventure (pp. 11-24). Edgewood, KY: Adventurehaven Press.
Kuo, F.E., & Faber Taylor, A. (2004). A potential natural treatment for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: evidence from a national study. American Journal of Public Health, 94: 1580–1586.
McCormick, R. (2017). Does access to green space impact the mental well-being of children: A systematic review. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 37, 3-7.
Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (2020). Social determinants of health.
Preuß, M., Nieuwenhuijsen, M., Marquez, S., Cirach, M., Dadvand, P., Triguero-Mas, M., … Zijlema, W. (2019). Low childhood nature exposure is associated with worse mental health in adulthood. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(10), 1-18.
Whittington, A., Nixon Mack, E., Budbill, N., & McKenney, P. (2011) All-girls adventure programmes: What are the benefits? Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, (11)1, 1-14.
Credits
This article was written in December 2020 by Mila Antova, PLA, Moody Graham; Karen Canan, parent, groundskeeper, and advocate for outdoor education; Caitlin Koob, OTR/L Student, PhD Program in Applied Research and Evaluation; Abigail Levinson Marks, PhD, Licensed Clinical Psychologist; Marci Raney, PhD, Department of Kinesiology, Occidental College; Amy Wagenfeld, PhD, OTR/L, SCEM, EDAC, FAOTA, Boston University Post-Professional Occupational Therapy Doctoral Program and Amy Wagenfeld | Design.
It was reviewed by Sarah Gill, MPP and Zach Pine, MD, Zach Pine Create with Nature.
National COVID-19 Outdoor Learning Initiative
The National COVID-19 Outdoor Learning Initiative supports schools and districts around the country in their efforts to reopen safely and equitably using outdoor spaces as strategic, cost-effective tools to increase physical distancing capacity onsite and provide access to abundant fresh air. The Initiative seeks to equitably improve learning, mental and physical health, and happiness for children and adults using an affordable, time-tested outdoor approach to keeping schools open during a pandemic.
