Nature has been part of our culture and history and we probably need it more than ever due to its emotional and physical health benefits.
Nature therapy, such as forest bathing, has been attributed in decreasing negative mental symptoms and have positive effect on mental health.
Also, enjoying outdoors activities will have added benefit of Vitamin D. Lack of vitamin D has been link to those affected with Covid19 virus recently. Of course, the hypothesis that this certain vitamin may have a role to our immune response to respiratory viruses is giving us something to think about as we continually staying indoors and living in the city.
Actually, United Nations projected that by 2050 approximately 68% of human population will be residing in the urban areas. This is a big contrast way back in 1950 which was only 38%. And two years ago, 55% of the world’s population residing in the urban areas which meant less access to green space, nature and Vitamin D for more than half of the global people.
However, we could still promote the great benefits of nature and its nutrients through gardening outdoors, visiting nature, building ‘green by design’ spaces, good ‘stewardship of our environment’ and other techniques.
The next time we do gardening in a small plot or just taking care of our forest, we know we are contributing to the sustainable development of our environment as well as helping our health and wellbeing.
REFERENCES:
Biesalski, H.K. (2020). Vitamin D deficiency and co-morbidities in COVID-19 patients – A fatal relationship? Nfs Journal. 20:10–21. doi: 10.1016/j.nfs.2020.06.001. Epub 2020 Jun 7. PMCID: PMC7276229. [Online] Available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7276229/ Accessed on: 12/8/2020
Kotera, Y., Richardson, M. & Sheffield, D. (2020). Effects of Shinrin-Yoku (Forest Bathing) and Nature Therapy on Mental Health: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00363-4 [Online] Available at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11469-020-00363-4#citeas Accessed on: 12/8/2020
UNESCO (2017). Culture and Nature: the two sides of the coin. [Online] Available at http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/culture-and-development/the-future-we-want-the-role-of-culture/the-two-sides-of-the-coin/ Accessed on: 12/8/2020
United Nations (NO DATE). Urbanization: World Urbanization Prospects 2018 - Final Report. [Online] Available at https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/theme/urbanization/index.asp Accessed on: 12/8/2020
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