Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>]

Living Near Green Lowers Anxiety, Depression Rates, Study Finds
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601124&sid=aaVDXmgskQmg
By Kristen Hallam

Oct. 15 (Bloomberg) -- People living near gardens, parks and other green 
spaces have lower rates of anxiety, depression and poor physical health than 
those living in urban areas, Dutch researchers found.

The scientists reviewed the medical records of more than 345,000 people in 
the Netherlands and calculated the percentage of green space near the 
patients’ homes. For those with 10 percent of green space within a 
1-kilometer radius of their homes, the prevalence of anxiety disorders was 26 
out of 1,000 people, according to the study. In a residential area that was 
90 percent green, the prevalence was 18 out of 1,000.

Better health may stem from access to fresher air and more opportunities to 
relax, socialize or exercise, though more research is needed to confirm those 
theories, said Jolanda Maas and colleagues at VU University Medical Center in 
Amsterdam. Expanding green spaces may help prevent chronic illnesses that 
cost billions of dollars to treat each year, they said.

“The role of green space in the living environment for health should not be 
underestimated,” they wrote in the study published in the British Medical 
Journal’s Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. “Most of the diseases 
which were found to be related to the percentage of green space in the living 
environment are highly prevalent in society and in many countries, they are 
the subject of large-scale prevention programs.”

The study also found fewer cases of depression, heart disease, back pain and 
asthma among those living near green spaces. The link between green space and 
health was strongest for children and people with low incomes, who are less 
mobile and spend more time closer to home, the study found.

The research was funded by a grant from the Netherlands Organization for 
Scientific Research.