It is well known that gardening is a positive activity for well-being, with positive effects on the body and mind. A new study has now come to confirm this and directly show the effects that working outdoors can have on physical fitness.
Published in "The Lancet planetary health", the survey (which can be consulted in English at this link) was carried out by a team of American researchers and financed by various prestigious institutes such as the American Cancer Society, to name just one, and some US universities.
The starting point: an unhealthy diet, little physical activity and insufficient social relationships are risk factors for some diseases. Is gardening, done as a community, able to reduce them?
The study then recruited people who were on waiting lists to access Denver's community gardens and hadn't gardened in the past two years. The parameters studied were diet, physical activity, anthropometry, perceived stress and anxiety.
Following various evaluations and analyzes on 291 participants (82% women, with an average age of 41), an improvement in nutrition was found in subjects involved in gardening activities and more correct physical activity, not only in relation to the work carried out in the garden, but also to new initiatives taken by the participants during the rest of the day.
“Gardening may provide a nature-based solution, accessible to a diverse population, including those who have never gardened, to improve well-being and important behavioral risk factors for numerous diseases,” the authors write.
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