Study: Kids Who Grow Up Surrounded By Nature Become Happier Adults

The more “green space” kids grow up surrounded by, the fewer psychiatric problems they have later in life, a new 30-year-study finds. Growing up in a home surrounded by trees and vegetation, rather than city buildings, lowers children’s risk of psychiatric disorders in adolescence and adulthood, a new study finds. For the study, Danish researchers followed 900,000 children 1985 to 2013. Children who grew up with the lowest levels of residential “green space” had up to 55% higher risk of developing a psychiatric disorder, they found. The researchers used satellite images to determine how much green space surrounded the childhood residences of the participants. The more vegetation they could view from their homes, the better their mental health outcomes. Being located within a reasonable drive from wilderness areas, public parks, and urban green spaces, didn’t seem to make a difference, only what they could see and touch in their own front or backyard. The results were also “dosage dependent” — the more of one’s childhood spent close to greenery, the lower the risk of mental health problems. Smaller studies have found lack of green space increases the risk of mood disorders and schizophrenia and can even affect cognitive development […]

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