Looking for a form of treatment that goes down easy and has no adverse side effects?

Take a walk in the park once daily, fresh air in your lungs, grass at your feet—if ever a prescription was designed for overdose it’s this one.

Green space therapy, as it’s popularly known, is at the heart of a growing new attitude to public space that proposes radical alteration of the urban landscape. The concrete jungle is about to receive a healthy natural makeover, one comprised mainly of trees.

“We’re finding that contact with nature is important for mental health, and healthy neighborhoods,” says Professor Frances Kuo, associate professor, Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences and Psychology department, and director of the Landscape and Human Health Lab at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.

“The implications are that trees and green space, far from being merely an amenity that makes our communities prettier, are actually important for public health. Our research shows the role of green space in creating better, safer neighborhoods. It helps foster stronger ties among neighbors, develops a sense of community, and even reduces litter, vandalism, and crime. So in the urban context, green space seems to foster healthier individuals, and healthier communities.”

When it comes to choosing treatment for what ails you sometimes a hike in the woods proves more effective than popping a pill according to various studies conducted by Dr. Kuo. In one notable instance she documented the therapeutic effects of natural environments on children suffering from attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Participating in outdoor activity alleviated symptoms among a group of more than 400 children chosen for the study.

Interestingly, wilderness settings proved the most effective, seeming to further enhance the children’s coping mechanisms.

“There’s a tremendous convergence of findings on the importance of nature for children,” explains Dr Kuo. “Overall, the science is pointing in very much the same direction as our intuitions. Getting outside is good for kids. Contact with nature seems to foster healthy child development across a wide range of indicators. The impact can be seen in outcomes as diverse as ADHD symptoms, aggression, concentration, and impulse control. There hasn’t been as much study on the the elderly, but so far evidence points in the same direction.”

A potent remedy, nature can be just as effective in small doses as large, which is why researchers like Dr. Kuo recommend people naturalize their property.

No matter what its size, a garden is certain to improve health and wellbeing. In fact Dr. Kuo likens nature to food, and urges a daily intake.

Greater awareness of nature’s curative powers has given rise to a new phrase, ‘green exercise,’ a term encompassing any physical activity conducted outdoors.

“The benefits of green exercise are both psychological and physiological,” says Dr. Jules Pretty, head of the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Essex, in Colchester England.

“Most of our work has been with relatively well people, and the effects we have measured are substantial. But we believe that the outcomes will be even greater for those people suffering from stress and physical health problems. We are working with recovering cardiac patients, and observe a large effect, and are about to begin work with depressed patients.”

Nature Calls

Dr. Pretty has identified an ‘immunizing’ effect provided by nature’s calming influence. Regular exposure to the natural world lessens the impact of future stresses, thus immunizing the system. He has also discerned three levels of engagement with nature, each resulting in positive health benefits:

• Seeing nature through a window, or viewing it in artwork. Though not in direct contact with nature, people confined to hospital beds, offices or homes can still derive pleasure from the view.
• Experiencing nature directly by strolling through a park, or sitting near a garden. Blood pressure usually drops and mood improves when people settle into a natural environment.
• Actively participating in nature by gardening, hiking, camping or through outdoor exercise. This is the ultimate level of engagement and the most rewarding.

Dr. Pretty’s research suggests that green exercise lowers blood pressure, improves self-esteem, and regulates mood swings. He points out that the implications for public health are profound.

By 2020 the World Health Organization anticipates mental health problems will be the planet’s number-one health issue. Already in the United Kingdom a fifth of all working people claim to be highly stressed at work.

“We spend huge sums of money giving people drugs to rebalance them,” comments Dr. Pretty. “Yet the solution is right before us. Green spaces make people feel well; they are de-stressed by them. Green exercise could also address the obesity pandemic. And then there’s the issue of children, who are more likely to be disconnected from nature than earlier generations. We need to find ways to reconnect them so they have memories and stories associated with nature that will cause them to protect it rather than let it fall victim to sprawling suburbs.”

The road to good health, it appears, begins on the path least traveled, one that’s engraved with paw prints rather than heel marks.