After living in New York City and Boston for several years, the first thing that struck me about North Carolina was how green it was. I couldn't get it out of my head. "It's simply so... green here!" I kept telling my family up north. While the lush greenery continues to feel like a pleasant advantage of living here, a new study suggests that it may also be good for my two children's developing brains. Win-win situation!
The Barcelona Institute for Global Health has undertaken research to see how green spaces near children's homes influence their cognitive development. Exposure to nature has been demonstrated to have positive benefits on children's physical, mental, and cognitive health in recent research. In fact, a prior ISGlobal study indicated that green spaces near and surrounding schools can help children's brain development by enhancing working memory and decreasing inattentiveness. More proof and a broader perspective, however, are needed, according to the experts.
Starting at a young age, the ISGlobal study team looked at how nature – specifically "greenness" – near children's residential addresses influenced their cognitive development. The study team analyzed the impact of greenness at 100, 300, and 500 meters distance from these children's homes at the following developmental junctures: birth, four to five years of age, and seven years of age, using data collected from 1,500 children in the INMA (Environmental Health Perspectives Project) cohort from Sabadell and Valencia from 2003 to 2013.
At four to five years old, the children were given two types of tests to assess their attention abilities, one at four to five years old and the other at seven years old.
Children who had more greenery around their homes scored higher, implying that long-term and consistent exposure to green environments can improve children's focus.
"This is the first time that the impact of lifelong residential exposure to green areas on attention capacity in children has been evaluated," says Payam Dadvand, the study's researcher and first author. It emphasizes the necessity of green spaces in cities, he claims, because not all children have access to green space at home.
"Green spaces in cities encourage social interactions and physical exercise while reducing exposure to air pollution and noise, and are thus vital for the development of future generations' brains," says Jordi Sunyer, study coordinator and head of ISGlobal's Child Health Programme. She goes on to say that different types of flora could have varied effects on neurodevelopment, thus more research in other climates and vegetation could be useful.
I've always noticed that letting my kids play outside helps them sleep better. You can bet we'll be spending practically all of our time outside now that I know it can help them concentrate.
To be honest, our daily walks and backyard romping sessions appear to benefit me just as much as they do the kids.
It's understandable. Adults exposed to nature at work (in the form of windows or live plants) report feeling better about their employment and work performance, according to recent data from a job satisfaction survey performed in the Midwest. The park and backyard are my office as a stay-at-home mom, and I think all the green grass is getting to my head in the greatest manner possible.
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