Wonders of The Green: Study Finds Spending Childhood In Greener Spaces May Prevent Mental Disorders Later

Children who grow up with greener surroundings have up to 55 percent less risk of developing numerous mental disorders later in life, according to a study that stressed the necessity for designing green and healthy cities for the future.

An increasing share of the world’s population now lives in cities and also the World Health Organisation estimates that over 450 millions of the global human population is suffer from a mental disorder. Based on a satellite data from 1985 to 2013, researchers from Aarhus University in Denmark have mapped the presence of green space around the childhood homes of almost one million Danes and compared this data with the risk of developing one of 16 different mental disorders later in life.

The study, published in the journal PNAS, shows that children surrounded by the high amounts of green space in childhood have up to a 55 percent lower risk of developing a mental disorder.

“With our dataset, we tend to show that the chance of developing a mental disorder decreases incrementally the longer you've got been enclosed by green space from birth and up to the age of 10. Green space throughout your childhood is therefore extremely important,” Kristine Engemann from Aarhus University.

As the researchers adjusted for other known risk factors of developing a mental disorder, they see their findings as a robust indication of an in-depth relationship between green space, urban life, and mental disorders. “There is increasing evidence that the natural environment plays a larger role for mental health state than previously thought. Our study is very important in giving us a stronger understanding of its importance across the broader population,” said Engemann.

This knowledge has important implications for sustainable urban coming up with. Not least as a result of a bigger and bigger proportion of the world’s population lives in cities. “The coupling between mental health and access to green space in your local area is something that should be considered even more in urban planning to ensure a greener and healthier cities and improve the mental health of urban residents in the future,” said Jens-Christian Svenning from Aarhus University.

Also Read: Disrupted body clock may cause mood disorders,depression