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The Health Impact of Nature Exposure and Green Exercise
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The Health Impact of Nature Exposure and Green Exercise

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Exercise and Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 May 2022) | Viewed by 28248

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Carly Wood

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Sport, Rehabilitation and Exercise Sciences, University of Essex, Colchester CO4 3SQ, UK
Interests: physical activity; nature exposure; green exercise; health; wellbeing; stress; cortisol
Dr. Margarita Triguero-Mas

grade E-Mail Website
Assistant Guest Editor
Mariana Arcaya's Research Lab at Department of Urban Studies (DUSP), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 08003 Barcelona, Spain
Interests: greenspace; green infrastructure; environmental epidemiology; environmental public health; mixed methods

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

As physical and mental ill health continues to increase across the globe, there is a drive to increase the use of our natural environments for health promotion. There is mounting evidence to support the health benefits of both exposure to nature and participation in nature-based activities such as gardening (termed “Green Exercise”), with benefits being derived from a range of natural environments from forest and woodland, to nearby urban parks and waterside environments. These benefits appear to be universal but might be greatest for those with low well-being or ill health (Rogerson et al., 2020).

Despite the growing evidence to support the positive health benefits of both nature exposure and Green Exercise, much of this evidence is focused on self-reported health outcomes. There is a growing need for high-quality mixed-methods research which uses both physiological and psychological methods to evaluate health impacts. This Special Issue of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH) seeks research papers on the health benefits of nature exposure and/or Green Exercise for a range of populations. This may include studies focused on the impact of accessible nearby nature, or the comparison of the effects of exposure to, or physical activity in, a range of different environments. We will prioritize (but are not limited to) well-designed research studies that use mixed-methods approaches to examine the impact of nature exposure and Green Exercise on health and wellbeing. We hope this Special Issue can provide additional high-quality research to support the existing and growing evidence base.

Dr. Carly Wood
Dr. Margarita Triguero-Mas
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • nature exposure
  • physical activity
  • Green Exercise
  • health
  • wellbeing

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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10 pages, 321 KiB  
Article
Fishing Participation, Motivators and Barriers among UK Anglers with Disabilities: Opportunities and Implications for Green Social Prescribing
by Rosie K. Lindsay, Christina Carmichael, Peter M. Allen, Matt Fossey, Lauren Godier-McBard, Laurie Butler, Mike Trott, Shahina Pardhan, Mark A. Tully, Jason J. Wilson, Andy Torrance and Lee Smith
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(8), 4730; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph19084730 - 14 Apr 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3958
Abstract
Green social prescribing, which includes the referral of patients to nature-based activities, could exacerbate inequalities between people with disabilities and people without. Research suggests fishing could be more inclusive relative to other outdoor sports. To understand if fishing is an inclusive sport, and [...] Read more.
Green social prescribing, which includes the referral of patients to nature-based activities, could exacerbate inequalities between people with disabilities and people without. Research suggests fishing could be more inclusive relative to other outdoor sports. To understand if fishing is an inclusive sport, and the potential benefits and barriers to prescribing fishing, the present study compared participation, motivators and barriers to fishing, between anglers with and without disabilities. UK adults were invited to participate in an online survey. Chi-square tests examined differences between anglers with and without disabilities regarding the type of fishing anglers engaged in, the frequency of fishing, the length of time spent fishing, motivators for fishing and barriers to fishing. Among 1799 anglers (97.5% male), 292 (16.2%) anglers reported having a disability. Most anglers with disabilities were over 55 years old (56.5%). There was no difference in fishing participation, or motivators for fishing, between anglers with and without disabilities; however, anglers with disabilities were more likely to report ‘costs’, ‘lack of transport’ and ‘having no one to go with them’ as barriers. Overall, there appeared to be no differences in fishing participation between anglers with versus without disabilities, although additional barriers to participation may exist. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Health Impact of Nature Exposure and Green Exercise)
16 pages, 2044 KiB  
Article
Health and Wellbeing Benefits from Nature Experiences in Tropical Settings Depend on Strength of Connection to Nature
by Rachel R. Y. Oh, Kelly S. Fielding, Chia-Chen Chang, Le T. P. Nghiem, Claudia L. Y. Tan, Shimona A. Quazi, Danielle F. Shanahan, Kevin J. Gaston, Roman L. Carrasco and Richard A. Fuller
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(19), 10149; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph181910149 - 27 Sep 2021
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 4794
Abstract
A growing number of policies and programmes in cities aim to increase the time people spend in nature for the health and wellbeing benefits delivered by such interactions. Yet, there is little research investigating the extent to which, and for whom, nature experiences [...] Read more.
A growing number of policies and programmes in cities aim to increase the time people spend in nature for the health and wellbeing benefits delivered by such interactions. Yet, there is little research investigating the extent to which, and for whom, nature experiences deliver such benefits outside Europe, North America, and Australia. Here, we assessed the relationships between nature dose (frequency, duration, and intensity) and three mental wellbeing (depression, stress, and anxiety) and two physical health (high blood pressure, diabetes) outcomes in Singapore, an intensely urbanised tropical city. Our analyses accounted for individual factors, including socio-economic status, nature connection (nature relatedness), and whether people with poor health are prevented by their condition from visiting green spaces. Our results show that the association between nature dose (specifically duration) and mental wellbeing is moderated by a nature connection. Specifically, people with a stronger nature connection were less likely to be depressed, stressed, and anxious, regardless of the duration of their nature dose. For those with a weaker connection to nature, spending longer in nature was associated with being more depressed, stressed, and anxious. We did not find a relationship between nature dose and high blood pressure or diabetes. Our results highlight that the relationship between nature dose and wellbeing might vary substantially among cities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Health Impact of Nature Exposure and Green Exercise)
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12 pages, 1409 KiB  
Article
Green Exercise: Can Nature Video Benefit Isometric Exercise?
by Hansen Li, Xing Zhang, Shilin Bi, Haowei Liu, Yang Cao and Guodong Zhang
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(11), 5554; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph18115554 - 22 May 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3507
Abstract
Green exercise is the combination of physical activity and nature exposure, which has been associated with positive effects on psychophysiological health. This study aimed to investigate the effects of nature video viewing on isometric exercise and find a useful practice for green exercise [...] Read more.
Green exercise is the combination of physical activity and nature exposure, which has been associated with positive effects on psychophysiological health. This study aimed to investigate the effects of nature video viewing on isometric exercise and find a useful practice for green exercise in urban living. In the current study, 18 male subjects were recruited in a randomized crossover trial and underwent a sequence of wall squat exercises. The whole experiment contained three periods of baseline (before exercise), exercise, and recovery (after exercise), and each period lasted for 2 min. A video of forest walking was played in the exercise and recovery periods as treatment, while a black screen was set as control. The Rate of Perceived Exertion Scale (RPE) and Feeling Scale (FS) were employed to measure perceived exertion and affective responses in the exercise period; heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) including the standard deviation of normal-to-normal RR intervals (SDNN), the root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD), and the standard deviations of the Poincaré plot (SD1), were recorded in the three periods. Heart rate recovery (HRR) in the recovery period was further calculated based on 30 s and 60 s time frames. Results demonstrated that during the exercise period nature video viewing was associated with better affective responses (median of 1.00 and an interquartile (IQR) of 2.00, p = 0.017), lower perceived exertion (median = 6.00, IQR = 2.00, p = 0.021), and lower HR (median = 89.60, IQR = 20.94, p = 0.01), but the differences in HRV indices between the experimental settings were not statistically significant. In the recovery period, significantly higher values of RMSSD (median = 34.88, IQR = 24.52, p = 0.004), SD1 (median = 24.75, IQR = 17.41, p = 0.003), and HR (median = 84.18, IQR = 16.58, p = 0.001) were observed in the treatment setting, whereas no statistically significant difference was found for HRR. In general, our findings support that nature video viewing may help reduce perceived exertion, increase exercise pleasure, buffer heart rate, and improve cardiac autonomic recovery for wall squat exercising, which implies the potential of nature-based stimuli in green exercise. However, due to the limited research sample, further study may need to include female participants and focus on various populations to confirm the effectiveness of using virtual and environments depicting nature at home or in public exercise places to promote positive exercise experience. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Health Impact of Nature Exposure and Green Exercise)
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17 pages, 1566 KiB  
Article
Time in Nature Associated with Decreased Fatigue in UK Truck Drivers
by Daniel P. Longman, Colin N. Shaw, Veronica Varela-Mato, Aron P. Sherry, Katharina Ruettger, Mohsen Sayyah, Amber Guest, Yu-Ling Chen, Nicola J. Paine, James A. King and Stacy A. Clemes
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(6), 3158; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph18063158 - 18 Mar 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 5293
Abstract
Heavy goods vehicle (HGV) driving is recognised as a highly hazardous occupation due to the long periods of sedentary behaviour, low levels of physical activity and unhealthy food options when working. These risk factors combine with shift work and concomitant irregular sleep patterns [...] Read more.
Heavy goods vehicle (HGV) driving is recognised as a highly hazardous occupation due to the long periods of sedentary behaviour, low levels of physical activity and unhealthy food options when working. These risk factors combine with shift work and concomitant irregular sleep patterns to increase the prevalence of fatigue. Fatigue is closely linked with stress and, subsequently, poor physiological and psychological health. In parallel, a wealth of evidence has demonstrated the health and wellbeing benefits of spending time in nature. Here, we sought to examine whether spending time in nature was associated with lower levels of fatigue, anxiety and depression in HGV drivers. 89 long-distance drivers (98.9% male, mean ± SD age: 51.0 ± 9 years, body mass index: 29.8 ± 4.7 kg/m2) participating in a wider health promotion programme reported time spent in nature (during and before the Covid-19 pandemic) and symptoms of occupational fatigue, depression and anxiety. After controlling for covariates, truck drivers who visited nature at least once a week exhibited 16% less chronic fatigue prior to the pandemic, and 23% less chronic fatigue and 20% less acute fatigue during the pandemic. No significant differences were observed for either anxiety or depression. As fatigue has a range of physical and mental health sequelae, we propose that increased exposure to natural settings may make a valuable contribution to interventions to promote the health and wellbeing of this underserved group. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Health Impact of Nature Exposure and Green Exercise)
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Review

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18 pages, 2926 KiB  
Review
Restoration of Visitors through Nature-Based Tourism: A Systematic Review, Conceptual Framework, and Future Research Directions
by Mengyuan Qiu, Ji Sha and Noel Scott
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(5), 2299; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph18052299 - 26 Feb 2021
Cited by 35 | Viewed by 5470
Abstract
Visiting natural environments could restore health and contribute to human sustainability. However, the understanding of potential linkages between restoration of visitors and nature-based tourism remains incomplete, resulting in a lack of orientation for researchers and managers. This study aimed to explore how visitors [...] Read more.
Visiting natural environments could restore health and contribute to human sustainability. However, the understanding of potential linkages between restoration of visitors and nature-based tourism remains incomplete, resulting in a lack of orientation for researchers and managers. This study aimed to explore how visitors achieve restoration through nature by analyzing published literature on tourism. Using a systematic review method, this study examined destination types, participant traits, theoretical foundations, and potential restorative outcomes presented in 34 identified articles. A new framework that synthesizes relevant research and conceptualizes the restorative mechanisms of nature-based tourism from a human–nature interaction perspective was developed. Owing to the limitations in the theories, methods, cases, and the COVID-19 pandemic, interdisciplinary methods and multisensory theories are needed in the future to shed further light on the restoration of visitors through nature-based tourism. The findings provide a theoretical perspective on the consideration of nature-based tourism as a public-wellness product worldwide, and the study provides recommendations for future research in a COVID-19 or post-COVID-19 society. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Health Impact of Nature Exposure and Green Exercise)
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Other

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10 pages, 370 KiB  
Study Protocol
A Multicomponent Program to Improve Self-Concept and Self-Esteem among Intimate Partner Violence Victims: A Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial
by Gemma Sáez, Carla López-Nuñez, Jorge Carlos-Vivas, Sabina Barrios-Fernández, Jorge Rojo-Ramos, José C. Adsuar and Daniel Collado-Mateo
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(9), 4930; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph18094930 - 06 May 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 4021
Abstract
Background: Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a major public health problem that affects one-third of women aged 15 around the world. Interventions for IPV victims are essential for women’s self-esteem and self-concept recovery. This project aims to assess the effects of an eight-session [...] Read more.
Background: Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a major public health problem that affects one-third of women aged 15 around the world. Interventions for IPV victims are essential for women’s self-esteem and self-concept recovery. This project aims to assess the effects of an eight-session multicomponent intervention program based on group psychological therapy and adventure activities in (1) self-esteem, (2) self-concept, (3) body image, (4) self-efficacy and (5) depression symptomatology in IPV victims. Methods/Design: A single-blind, randomized controlled pilot study, with experimental and control group, will be carried out. 34 IPV female victims will be recruited and equally assigned to the experimental (n = 17) or the control (n = 17) group. Primary outcome measures will include self-esteem, while secondary measures will be focused on self-concept, body image, self-efficacy, and depressive symptoms. Intention to treat and efficacy statistical analyses will be also performed. Discussion: This project will explore the effects of a new multicomponent program which includes cognitive-behavioral therapy sessions and outdoor adventure activities on affective and emotional variables, often affected in IPV victims. In addition, orientations to incorporate the main findings into the community based IPV resources and victims’ services will be provided. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Health Impact of Nature Exposure and Green Exercise)
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