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Doctors nationwide have already begun giving their patients “park prescriptions,” instructions to improve their health by spending more time outdoors.[1][,][2][,][3] A growing body of evidence suggests that nature, whether the green leaves of a city park or the natural sounds of a back-country wilderness, may help us think better, feel better, and possibly even live longer.[4][,][5][,][6] But as the authors of a new commentary in Environmental Health Perspectives posit, before nature can truly be tapped as a public health resource, many critical research questions remain to be answered.[7]
“The notion that nature contact is good for people is very intuitive,” says lead author Howard Frumkin, a professor of environmental and occupational health sciences at the University of Washington. Proof is another matter, however: “There are some basic elements of this science that are just developing,” he says. “There’s an ironic disconnect between how widely held this view is and how early we are in the scientific verification. It may be true that some exposures are very helpful, and others are of little help. Understanding the layers of truth to this is very important.”
[Image omitted - see PDF]What “dose” of nature is enough, and how should it be “administered” to confer potential health benefits? That’s just one of the avenues of inquiry that researchers need to pursue to advance our knowledge of the human–nature relationship. Images, clockwise from top right: © Image Source/Alamy Stock Photo; © Lumi Images/Alamy Stock Photo; © Terry Bruce/Alamy Stock Photo; © Cultura Creative (RF)/Alamy Stock Photo.
What size and type of “dose,” for example, are required to achieve a health benefit? Do we need to be outside, or is peering through a window at a planted courtyard enough? How about watching nature...