大自然对孩子有好处

Children who live in areas with natural spaces (forests, 公园, backyards) from birth may experience fewer emotional issues between the ages of 2 and 5, 根据最近的一项研究. The re博彩平台 was funded by the National Institutes of 健康’s Environmental Influences on Child 健康 Outcomes program.

While re博彩平台 has suggested that time in nature is important for mental health, studies examining the effects on young children are limited. 一组ECHO调查人员，包括 Nissa Towe-Goodman, a re博彩平台 scientist at the UNC Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, 解决了这一研究缺口. They analyzed information from parents about the behavior of their children from ages 2 to 11. They combined this data with the family’s residential address when the child was born and satellite data on live vegetation density around their homes.

What re博彩平台ers found in their analysis, published in JAMA网络开放, was that higher levels of green spaces up to three-fourths of a mile from a child’s home were linked with lower anxiety and 抑郁症 symptoms from ages 2 to 5 years. The association persisted even after re博彩平台ers factored in the child’s sex, 家长教育, age at birth and neighborhood socioeconomic vulnerability. 研究ers did not find a significant association between green space around the home and mental health symptoms in later childhood years from ages 6 to 11, 当孩子们花更多的时间在学校.

“Our re博彩平台 supports existing evidence that being in nature is good for kids,towwe - goodman说. “It also suggests that the early childhood years are a crucial time for exposure to green spaces.”

Most re博彩平台 so far has been limited to studying one or a few cities at a time and focused on adult health. Because the ECHO Program collects data nationwide, re博彩平台ers were able to examine data from children in 199 counties across 41 U.S. 州. They explored the connection between exposure to green spaces from birth and anxiety, 抑郁症, aggression and other symptoms during early or middle childhood.

The study included children born between 2007 and 2013 and whose parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist, a common survey to rate a child’s emotional and behavioral symptoms. 2,103 children included in the study ranged in age from 2 to 11, 跨越童年早期和中期的.

“在未来, re博彩平台ers could look into what kinds of experiences in nature are connected to kids’ early mental health,towwe - goodman说. ”也, we should study how creating or preserving natural areas around homes and schools might make a difference in a child’s mental health.”

Towe-Goodman led this collaborative re博彩平台 in JAMA网络开放. 玛格丽特击打 also contributed to this work and is an author on the paper. Swingler is an FPG advanced re博彩平台 scientist and site principal investigator for the Family Life Project-ECHO at UNC-Chapel Hill.

“Bringing together scientists here at FPG and the broader ECHO community on this re博彩平台 has been an incredible experience,towwe - goodman说. “这份工作对我来说真的是一份热爱的工作!”