Being surrounded by green space in childhood may improve mental health of adults

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://scitech.au.dk/en/about-science-and-technology/current-affairs/news/show/artikel/being-surrounded-by-green-space-in-childhood-may-improve-mental-health-of-adults/

Being surrounded by green space in childhood may improve mental health of adults

Children who grow up without green surroundings have up to 55% higher risk of developing various mental disorders later in life. This is shown by a new study from Aarhus University, emphasizing the need for designing green and healthy cities for the future.

2019.02.25 | Peter Bondo

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A larger and larger share of the world’s population now lives in cities and WHO estimates that more than 450 millions of the global human population suffer from a mental disorder. A number that is expected to increase.

Now, based on satellite data from 1985 to 2013, researchers from Aarhus University 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, which is published today in the prestigious American Journal PNAS, shows that children surrounded by low amounts of green space in childhood have up to a 55% higher risk of developing a mental disorder – even after adjusting for other known risk factors such as socio-economic status, urbanization, and the family history of mental disorders.

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"With our dataset, we show that the risk of developing a mental disorder decreases incrementally the longer you have been surrounded by green space from birth and up to the age of 10. Green space throughout childhood is therefore extremely important,” Kristine Engemann explains.

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1807504116

[trixie2]

1. Outdoor or forest schools started in Norway, Netherlands etc

Have caught on here and I think it is great.

There was a great documentary on Forest kindergartens.