Parks RX: Parks and Trails for your Health and Sanity
I remember traveling though an airport in Salt Lake City, UT and hearing the loudspeaker play a pre-recorded announcement reminding travelers not to smoke in the terminals, and that this rule was a apart of Utah's "indoor clean air" act.
Cigarette smoke aside, I could not help but ponder the quality of indoor air in any public facility - including school classrooms, restaurants, and health clubs. It almost seemed to me that indoor air quality was worse than outdoor air quality, including the air in urban and industrialized areas.
Could the fact that our society spends large amounts of time indoors be a contributing factor for poor health? Certainly our sedentary lifestyles are a culprit. We sit inside and and watch TV, drive our cars to nearby places, hire carpenters to lift heavy household objects, other things to mitigate our need to perform physical labor. Of course, this immobile lifestyle combined with a diet of low quality, high-fat foods contributes to a staggering obesity rate of over 35% of the adult population in our country and over 16% of youth (CDC, 2012).
Other health problems, such as the common cold, occur most frequently among adults during the winter months (WebMD, 2009). Could this be because people are spending more of their waking hours inside (because it's cold) and are therefore spreading infections more quickly and easily? If we spent more time outside in winter, would the rate or frequency of common colds decrease?
Youth, as previously mentioned, are falling victims to an increasingly stagnant lifestyle, as well. Children are spending less time outside at the cost of physical fitness (as evidenced by the increase in childhood and now infant obesity), and it also affects their mental health. Richard Louv, a well-known activist for environmental education for children and their families, argues the result of today's young people not spending free time in the outdoors may be causing kids to suffer from "nature-deficit disorder" that could be leading to higher rates of ADHD, early onset of depression, and development problems (2005). Additionally, the overemphasis on structured sports and other highly "time-bound" activities is comprising their ability to "play," (Louv, 2005). Essentially, kids and adults alike are loosing the opportunity to have unstructured, fun physical activity.
While I am by no means a medical expert, I do know that there is something everyone can do to increase their health - both physically and mentally - and that is, of course, exercising in the great outdoors (see Figure 3).
Perhaps, then, your next medicine would be do get outdoors! If you do not like the outdoors, perhaps because you don't like bugs or getting muddy, then I would ask you to consider these questions: Is it healthier riding on an elliptical in a poorly ventilated gym surrounded by artificial light and noise? Or is it bring outside in nature, with plants, flowers, trees, and birds providing your life-support system. There is growing scientific evidence that it is not only healthy for everyone to have some exposure to nature, but it very well could be essential for our lives. Also consider that it has only been until recently that human society (at least in most Western cultures) have spent so much time indoors. Be responsible when it comes to your own health and the health of others. Get out on a hiking trail (figure 1), bike path (figure 2), or get out in a kayak or canoe and head to the river. You'll also save money, as many parks and trails are low cost (or sometimes free!). Let your next prescription be your local, state, or national parks.
References
Louv, R. (2005). Last child in the woods: saving our children from nature-deficit disorder. New York, NY: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.
Ogden, C. L., Carroll, M. D., Kit, B. K., & Flegal, K. M. (2012). Retrieved from National Center for Health Statistics for Health S website: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db82.pdf
WebMD. (2009, September 25). Webmd. Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/cold-guide/common_cold_causes
Cigarette smoke aside, I could not help but ponder the quality of indoor air in any public facility - including school classrooms, restaurants, and health clubs. It almost seemed to me that indoor air quality was worse than outdoor air quality, including the air in urban and industrialized areas.
Could the fact that our society spends large amounts of time indoors be a contributing factor for poor health? Certainly our sedentary lifestyles are a culprit. We sit inside and and watch TV, drive our cars to nearby places, hire carpenters to lift heavy household objects, other things to mitigate our need to perform physical labor. Of course, this immobile lifestyle combined with a diet of low quality, high-fat foods contributes to a staggering obesity rate of over 35% of the adult population in our country and over 16% of youth (CDC, 2012).
Other health problems, such as the common cold, occur most frequently among adults during the winter months (WebMD, 2009). Could this be because people are spending more of their waking hours inside (because it's cold) and are therefore spreading infections more quickly and easily? If we spent more time outside in winter, would the rate or frequency of common colds decrease?
Youth, as previously mentioned, are falling victims to an increasingly stagnant lifestyle, as well. Children are spending less time outside at the cost of physical fitness (as evidenced by the increase in childhood and now infant obesity), and it also affects their mental health. Richard Louv, a well-known activist for environmental education for children and their families, argues the result of today's young people not spending free time in the outdoors may be causing kids to suffer from "nature-deficit disorder" that could be leading to higher rates of ADHD, early onset of depression, and development problems (2005). Additionally, the overemphasis on structured sports and other highly "time-bound" activities is comprising their ability to "play," (Louv, 2005). Essentially, kids and adults alike are loosing the opportunity to have unstructured, fun physical activity.
While I am by no means a medical expert, I do know that there is something everyone can do to increase their health - both physically and mentally - and that is, of course, exercising in the great outdoors (see Figure 3).
Perhaps, then, your next medicine would be do get outdoors! If you do not like the outdoors, perhaps because you don't like bugs or getting muddy, then I would ask you to consider these questions: Is it healthier riding on an elliptical in a poorly ventilated gym surrounded by artificial light and noise? Or is it bring outside in nature, with plants, flowers, trees, and birds providing your life-support system. There is growing scientific evidence that it is not only healthy for everyone to have some exposure to nature, but it very well could be essential for our lives. Also consider that it has only been until recently that human society (at least in most Western cultures) have spent so much time indoors. Be responsible when it comes to your own health and the health of others. Get out on a hiking trail (figure 1), bike path (figure 2), or get out in a kayak or canoe and head to the river. You'll also save money, as many parks and trails are low cost (or sometimes free!). Let your next prescription be your local, state, or national parks.
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| Figure 1: Hiking trails offer a relaxing and endurance-building workout opportunity. |
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| Figure 2: Bike trails offer a fun and scenic way to get exercise. They are also very accessible to nearly everyone, as many scenic bike paths now pass through urban areas. Photo by Andrii Cherniak. |
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Figure 3: The National Park Service promotes their trails
and beaches in the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore by drawing the connection between human
health and utilizing park resourcessuch as trails and natural beaches.
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References
Louv, R. (2005). Last child in the woods: saving our children from nature-deficit disorder. New York, NY: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.
Ogden, C. L., Carroll, M. D., Kit, B. K., & Flegal, K. M. (2012). Retrieved from National Center for Health Statistics for Health S website: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db82.pdf
WebMD. (2009, September 25). Webmd. Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/cold-guide/common_cold_causes
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| This bike trail in Northwest Indiana becomes a haven for skiing and snowshoeing in the wintertime. |
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