Nature walks may improve women’s recovery

“What is unique about this study is that we examined people in their everyday lives, rather than in a controlled experimental setting. We see that days with more activity in natural environments, such as walking or cycling, are associated with signs of better recovery that same night,” says Karl Samuelsson, Researcher in Environmental Science at IBF.

The study followed 45 individuals in Gävle for up to ten months. The researchers combined GPS data with nightly heart rate measurements from wearable devices – a novel way of studying how exposure to nature affects the body in everyday life.

The researchers analysed resting heart rate and heart rate variability (HRV), as lower resting heart rate and higher HRV are well-established indicators of good health and low stress levels. The results showed that greater activity in natural environments is associated with improvements in both measures, even though the effects observed on any given day are relatively small.

An interesting aspect of the study is that the associations were clear among women, but not statistically significant among men. This may partly be due to the smaller number of male participants, but is also consistent with previous research suggesting that the stress-reducing effects of nature may be stronger in women.

Although the effects of a single day are modest, the findings suggest that regular exposure to nature may have important implications for health over time. The study also highlights the importance of access to green spaces close to where people live.

“Our findings reinforce the view that everyday access to nature matters. Green spaces should be easy to reach, for example on foot or by bicycle,” says Karl Samuelsson.

The researchers emphasise that further studies are needed to understand long-term effects, as well as the reasons behind the observed sex differences.

Camilla Scheinert