jeroen douwes , massey university and geoffrey h. donovan , united states forest service
since the pioneering work of architecture professor roger ulrich , who found that patients with a view of a natural scene recovered more quickly from surgery, research has shown that exposure to the natural environment is associated with a wide range of health benefits.
we have focused our work on asthma, and our research , published today, shows that children who live in greener neighbourhoods are less likely to develop it.
one intriguing explanation is provided by the hygiene hypothesis , which proposes that for children’s immune systems to develop properly, they need to be exposed to a broad range of microbes in early life. without this exposure, children may be more susceptible to immunological diseases, like allergies and asthma.
advertisement
living around a more diverse range of plants may also increase a child’s exposure to microbes. in fact, past studies have shown that people who live in more biodiverse areas have more diverse skin bacteria. exposure to the natural environment may, therefore, improve our health by increasing the diversity of microbes living on our skin and in our gut.
this, in turn, may promote a healthy immune response and reduce the risk of allergies and asthma. reduced stress and increased physical activity, associated with living close to green space, may be another reason for the observed protective effects.
this study used the integrated data infrastructure (idi), which is a large database of individual-level data maintained by stats new zealand . currently, it contains 166 billion pieces of information on education, benefits, tax, families and households, health, justice and migration.
advertisement
this study is an unusual collaboration between economists at the us forest service and epidemiologists in new zealand. it contributes to our understanding of why asthma is on the rise.
improved prevention and treatment options for asthma are urgently needed as the burden of asthma is considerable, with 334 million people affected worldwide . asthma prevalence in english-speaking countries such as new zealand, australia, the us and the uk is particularly high, with approximately one in six people suffering from it.
showing a link between biodiversity and human health may also change how we manage natural resources, especially in cities. unfortunately, biodiversity is declining around the world due to population growth , climate change and intensive agricultural practices. our work suggests that this is not just an ecological problem, but may also present a significant threat to public health.
advertisement
other studies have suggested that the exposure to the natural environment also protects against low birth weight, heart disease, mental health disorders and breast cancer, although results have not always been consistent. therefore, as the diversity of our natural environment and resultant microbial exposure declines, we may see further increases in diseases, such as childhood allergies and asthma.
this article is republished from the conversation under a creative commons license. read the original article .