The Benefits of Outdoor Recreation on Human Health

Video by Ronnie Fogarty

Video by Emilio Knee

A Healthy Environment Means a Healthy You !

By: Sierra Martin

March 11, 2011

Clean water, and air are two very important aspects a human needs to live a healthy life, so why not understand to a better extent why we should work to keep these parts of our lives clean, and how we can do it. In the words of University of Michigan psychologist Rachel Kaplan “Nature matters to people. Big tees and small trees, glistening water, chirping birds. Budding bushes, colourful flowers—these are important ingredients in a good life.” (23, Kaplan)

Conserving Land

When we protect land, we protect the public’s health. In the human life, wilderness is more than just a place to look at but it’s a necessity. People may take a walk through a Provincial or National park but they do not realize that these protected areas are here for a reason. They are here so that people can understand that the wilderness is not just present in our society as a job for many of our communities (mining industries/forestry industries) but it is here as a foundation of life. People benefit so much from contact with nature that land conservation can now be viewed as a public health strategy .

The Impact on the Human Life

Although adults are greatly affected by a clean or “green” environment children are even more affected by it. Most children in today’s society are physically inactive, this is the greatest reason for chronic conditions such as childhood obesity, asthma, ADD or ADHD and many more. If children continue an inactive lifestyle, they could find themselves with a pulmonary or cardiovascular problem as they enter adulthood. All children seem to want to do is sit in front of a computer, play a video game, text there friend, or just stay in the house, but it is very important that they get out into nature because they are missing out on opportunities for physical activity, stress reduction, attention restoration, and a healthy development.

It is proven that a person who jogs through a park after a long day of stressful work is much less angry and stressed than a person who heads to an indoor gym after a long hard day of work. People have always used some aspects of nature for therapeutic reasons but there has been evidence that shows that people can recover from a surgery or cope with pain in a much better way when they are exposed to a natural environment.

Even if you are a healthy, fit person you can still benefit from nature, for example many inner-city children show a higher amount of self esteem and happiness after spending time in a rural environment.

Overall, contact with nature is a very important of a healthy life. There are still many things scientists need to research such as what kinds of nature are most beneficial to healthy, and how much contact is needed for an effect to take place. But the most important part is that we know enough to understand that it is extremely important to preserve land so that humans can continue to live a healthy lifestyle.

The Future

We need to promote land conservation to today’s society not only for ourselves but for the people of the future. Since the society seems to have an increasing to urban areas, we need to start to envision and plan “green” cities, where the habitants have nearby parks and green space to enjoy. Conservation of land is important to this idea because these “green” spaces will promote our health, enhance out well-being and nourish our spirits.