Nature, Outdoor Education & Health - By Bruce Greenhill

For today’s children, computers, television, and video games are ubiquitous. Where once children spent the vast majority of their free time outdoors, today’s kids are more likely to be found playing indoors, “plugged in” to one of the aforementioned electronic devices. A large body of research is now showing that as connections to nature diminish, social, psychological, and spiritual implications are becoming apparent.

The connection between nature and physical, mental and spiritual health has been well established. In the early 80s Wilson¹ first proposed his “biophilia hypothesis” that states human beings have “…an innate emotional affiliation …to other living things”. In his later works, Wilson² further states, “…our relationships with nature are a fundamental component of building and sustaining good health”. Howard Frumkin³ of the Centers for Disease Control writes in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine that in terms of preventative health, engaging with nature is as important as diet and exercise. Writing in the journal Health Promotion International, St Leger⁴ challenges health care professionals around the world to become more proactive to ensure “…interactions with nature are uppermost in our health promotion policy development and interventions”. He then elaborates on the benefits of nature in both the maintenance of good health and restoration of health following illness, injury or surgery.

In their 2002 review of international literature on the health benefits of contact with nature, researchers at Deakin University⁵ in Melbourne, Australia presented a list entitled “The Benefits to Individual Health & Wellbeing”. That list is broken into subheadings of the Physical, Mental & Spiritual. The complete list is appended below.

A recently published work entitled Last Child in the Woods – Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder⁶ shows that nature can “…offer powerful therapy for such maladies as depression, obesity, and attention deficit disorder”. Based on interviews with numerous researchers, teachers, education specialists and child development experts, author Richard Louv also shows that environment-based education “…dramatically improves standardized test scores and grade-point averages and develops skills in problem solving, critical thinking, and decision making”. Anecdotal evidence presented strongly suggests that childhood experiences in nature stimulate creativity.

The Discovery Center’s EE program then, will not only benefit the physical environment but also individual participants. As we encourage students to appreciate and understand our natural environment, we aim to help them reconnect with nature and recognize their stewardship responsibilities. Armed with the skills and knowledge they acquire through involvement in the Discovery Center’s EE programs, they will also gain the confidence to engage with nature on their own. As current research clearly shows, by so doing, they will be looking after themselves physically, emotionally and spiritually. This may be the greatest gift of our program!

¹Wilson, E.O. (1984) Biophilia Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA.
²Wilson, E.O. (2001) The Ecological Footprint, Island Press, Washington, D.C.
³Frumkin, H. (2001) “Beyond toxicity human: health and the natural environment” American Journal of Preventative Medicine, Vol 20 pp 234-240
⁴St Leger, L. (2003) “Health and nature: new challengers for health promotion” Health Promotion International, Vol 18, #3 pp 173-175, Oxford University Press
⁵Maller, Townsend, Brown & St.Leger The Health Benefits of Contact With Nature: a review of current literature. Deakin University, Melbourne.
⁶Louv, R. (2005) Last Child in the Woods – Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder, Algonquin Books, Chapel Hill, NC

Benefits to Individual/Personal Health & Well-being

Researchers at Melbourne's Deakin University recently prepared an annotated list of the main benefits to the health and well-being of individuals that arise from contact with nature. A summary of that list is presented below. As the components of health are interrelated, theres is some overlap.

Physical
• Contact with nature provides a sense of well-being and positively influences immunity and cardiovascular function; 
• Contact with nature reduces the magnitude of the physiological response to stress and enhances the ability to cope with, and recover from, stressful episodes by inducing a state of relaxation;
• Some positive physiological effects of viewing nature include reduction of heart rate, muscle tension, blood pressure, and skin conductance;
• Viewing or touching a pet or animals is effective in reducing stress, decreasing blood pressure and heart rate;
• Views of nature reduce self-reports of illnesses, such as headaches and digestive disorders, in people who live or work in confined, indoor spaces (such as offices and prisons);
• Nurturing or caring for living organisms may have distinct beneficial physiological (and emotional) responses that improve overall health and well-being;
• Interacting with plants (i.e. via hiking or gardening) encourages individuals to undertake physical exercise;

Mental
• Contact with nature improves self-awareness, self-esteem, self-concept, and positively affects mood state, which have positive flow-on effects to physiological state (such as boosting immunity);
• Contact with nature reduces the incidence of negative feelings such as anger, fear, anxiety, and frustration, and induces peace of mind;
• Contact with nature reduces the magnitude of the psychological response to stress and enhances the ability to cope with and recover from stressful episodes, by inducing a state of relaxation
• Contact with nature is effective in alleviating the symptoms of anxiety, depression, and psychosomatic illness (including irritability, restlessness, insomnia, tension, headaches, and indigestion);
• Views of nature improve psychological health, particularly emotional and cognitive aspects, and natural surroundings have been demonstrated to assist cognitive functioning in children (including reducing the symptoms of ADD (attention deficit disorder));
• Contact with nature, or having nature nearby, improves quality of life, work satisfaction, and the coping ability of residents in urban areas;
• Contact with wilderness can develop leadership abilities, which translate positively into other areas of life;
• Natural environments foster a state of reflection and reverie, enabling one to gain perspective on life or provide new direction, and create an awareness of one’s surroundings;
• Views of nature improve performance in attention demanding tasks and can restore the capacity for concentration/attention when it is lost.

Spiritual
• Nature provides spiritual inspiration, enabling people to gain a different or deeper perspective on life by the realization that they are part of something larger and universal;
• Contact with nature can inspire feelings of peace, oneness, connectedness, and strength;
• Nature is important to all peoples/cultures across the globe, in ‘developed’ and ‘undeveloped’ nations, for providing spiritual inspiration;
• Contemplation of nature can inspire a sense of freedom, reverence, encourage humility, prompt introspection and reflection on personal values, and lead to spiritual growth or enlightenment;
• Spirituality arising from contact with nature can reduce psychosis, substance abuse, and heal those suffering from violence and/or injury. 

Source: Maller, Townsend, Brown & St.Leger (2002) The Health Benefits of Contact With Nature: a review of current literature. Deakin University, Melbourne. pp 55-57