March 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 52

Six Hundred Seconds to a Better You
By Jimmy O'Connor

M

uch has been said about people, particularly children, spending too
much time in front of electronic screens and the negative health
consequences associated with such activity. We are told to put down
the remote, put away our smartphones, get off the couch and get
outside. This suggestion, more often a call-to-action, is made with the proposition
that the outdoors will make us healthier beings. And in fact, this can be true. Many
studies have concluded that nature promotes health and wellness. Beginning with
environmental psychologist Roger Ulrich's 1984 study of hospital patients' view of
outdoor gardens and the positive correlation to reduced complaints of discomfort
and shortened recovery time, the health benefits of nature have been demonstrated
time after time. NRPA's park prescription model of physician-prescribed outdoor
recreation is built on the knowledge that an individual's health and well-being can
benefit from time spent outdoors.
But, how much time do we need
to spend outdoors to benefit from it?
And, is all time spent outdoors equal?
Thanks to recent research by MaryCarol Hunter, associate professor of
natural resources at the University of
Michigan, we have insight into the
answers to these questions. Studying

50	 Parks & Recreation

the attributes that make an outdoor
place more pleasing for human interaction, Hunter's study, " Designer's
Approach for Scene Selection in Tests
of Preference and Restoration Along
a Continuum of Natural to Manmade
Environments, " published in Frontiers
in Psychology, August 19, 2015, draws

| M A R C H 2 0 1 6 | W W W. PA R K S A N D R E C R E AT I O N . O R G

findings important to parks and recreation, families and individuals alike.
How Much Time?
Ten minutes, two to three times per
week: This is the amount of time in
a natural setting necessary to trigger
the healthy benefits associated with
being outdoors. The research findings indicate that people who achieve
this amount of outdoor time have
less stress, increased ability to focus
and improved mood and energy levels. This relatively modest investment
of time is an opportunity to ensure
participants within your recreation
programs get outside. Many of your
programs, for preschoolers to seniors,
can include a walk through the park
several times each week, snack served
outside or reading time in the shade
of a tree.



March 2016 - Parks & Recreation

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