Why Kids Need Green Spaces

Being in green spaces is good for your health and overall wellbeing. That’s because nature is healing for people of all ages, especially kids. Green spaces are actually better for children’s development and wellbeing than previously thought.

Elementary schools are really on to something when they send children out in the fresh air to play, reported The Guardian. That’s because exposure to green spaces could lead to fewer behavioral issues and contribute to better learning. Teachers have known this for generations and now scientists are discovering it too.

Science catches on
When it comes to the physical and mental benefits of green spaces for children, scientific evidence is gaining ground. The first study to make the connection was published in 2015 and researched the connection between green spaces and cognitive development in primary school children. It was based on studying 2,593 schoolchildren in Barcelona, Spain  that were in the second to fourth grades.

The cognitive development of the children was assessed for 12 months. The children who were exposed to a large amount of greenery – this was assessed by satellite photos – showed improvement in cognitive tests, reported The Washington Post.

“The kids where there was more green [spaces]  around the school, we saw better cognitive development, so they did better on these tests,” Mark Nieuwenhuijsen, a researcher with the Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology in Barcelona and one of the study’s authors told The Washington Post. “It was about a five percent difference over the time period. That’s an amount that may sound small but “on a population scale, this can have huge effects,” Mark Nieuwenhuijsen added.

 A more recent study from Belgium also recognized that children’s exposure to greenery helped cognition but also  went one step further and concluded that the children who were brought up in greener areas had higher IQs and had much lower behavioral issues.

What does it mean for different aged children?
Benefits varied according to the age of the children. A UNICEF discussion paper identified some of these differences. For instance, up to the age of six, proven benefits include improved motor coordination, better balance, and better sleep quality.

For teens, the benefits include improved attention, better stress management, and more enthusiasm for learning. The paper concluded that all children benefit from green spaces.

What this means, Eirini Flouri, professor of developmental psychology at University College London, told The Guardian is that kids need to spend at least a minimum amount of  time in areas that contain greenery. But she cautions that the area should be safe, not have high levels of pollution or noise, and be visually attractive to the children.

This translates into putting more trees and bushes near schools and parks as well as getting kids to spend more time outdoors surrounded by nature. It’s good for their bodies and minds.