Spending time in nature is a stress management strategy that works for many people. And now there is a great research study that supports this! A recent study published in Scientific Reports has identified the time threshold for when time in nature is positively associated with good health and wellbeing. 120 minutes a week.
“Spending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is associated with good health and wellbeing”
That’s right. Just two hours a week. And, it doesn’t matter if it’s all at once or in shorter doses. Male or female, young and old, regardless of income. It applies equally to everyone.
The study used data from almost 20,000 people. Co-author of the research, Professor Terry Hartig of Uppsala University in Sweden said: “There are many reasons why spending time in nature may be good for health and wellbeing, including getting perspective on life circumstances, reducing stress, and enjoying quality time with friends and family. The current findings offer valuable support to health practitioners in making recommendations about spending time in nature to promote basic health and wellbeing, similar to guidelines for weekly physical activity”.
The full paper is entitled “Spending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is associated with good health and wellbeing”, published in Scientific Reports.