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Wisconsin Research Shows Green Space Keeps You From Feeling Blue, University of W... Page 1 of 1
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<br />Wisconsin Research Shows Green Space Keeps You From Feeling Blue
<br />Madison, Wisconsin - If you start feeling better as spring begins pushing up its tender shoots, you might be living proof of a trend
<br />discovered in data from the Survey of the Health of Wisconsin: The more green space in the neighborhood, the happier people
<br />reported feeling.
<br />"Across neighborhoods of Wisconsin, from the North Woods to the cities, the results are
<br />"If you want to striking," says IC it Kristen IMa�alleckii,, assistant professor of population health sciences at the UW
<br />School of Medicine and Public Health. "Higher levels of green space were associated with lower
<br />feel better, go symptoms of anxiety, depression and stress."
<br />outside." The study, published recently in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public
<br />Health, combines mental - health data from the a>,uir rey o tIrme.,.IH „II,e,,,, III „dlrm „_cs,f W ii,sco.ir sli,irm, (SHOW) and
<br />- Kristen Malecki Landsat 5 satellite data from July 2009 that analyzed how much vegetation was present in each
<br />of the SHOW census blocks.
<br />About 2,500 Wisconsin residents from 229 neighborhoods answered an assessment that asked them to rate their symptoms of
<br />depression, anxiety and stress. The research team, which was also led by Dr. Kirsten Beyer of the Medical College of Wisconsin in
<br />Milwaukee, adjusted the results to make sure they weren't confounded by race, age, income level, education, marital status,
<br />employment and other factors.
<br />They found that across all strata of society, people who lived in a neighborhood with less than 10 percent tree canopy were much
<br />more likely to report symptoms of depression, stress and anxiety. So, for example, a poor person living on a logging road in the
<br />Chequamegon- Nicolet National Forest was more likely to be happy than a wealthier person living on a treeless block in Milwaukee.
<br />Malecki notes that the study gives credence to the "attention restoration theory,” which holds that more time in nature restores
<br />the ability to concentrate and reduces mental fatigue. This idea is also the theme of the book "Last Child in the Woods,” which
<br />suggested that indoor lifestyle and more screen time hurt children's attention spans. It also suggests a relatively simple solution
<br />to improving the mental health of poor urban neighborhoods: Plant trees and grass.
<br />"The greening of neighborhoods could be a simple solution to reducing stress,” says Malecki. "If you want to feel better, go
<br />outside."
<br />Research Support
<br />The SHOW project is supported by grants from the Wisconsin Partnership Program, the National Institutes of Health
<br />(IRC2HL101468 -01), and the UW Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (UL1TR000427). This research was also
<br />supported by the Clinical and Translational Research Institute of Southeast Wisconsin (NIH ULlRR031973.)
<br />Date Published: 04/11/2014
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<br />Copyright © 2014 University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Last updated: 04/15/2014
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<br />http: / /www.med.wi sc. edu /news - events /wi sconsin- research - shows - green- space- keeps - you -f... 4/30/2014
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