What's the best thing about living in a city? Why all the facilities of course! When it comes to children, one always tends to pick the best options for them. And cities have so much to offer. From better schools to sanitation, health care, nutrition and education as well as fun activities, cities seem like the perfect place for a child to grow up in. However, there's one thing that most cities lack and that's green spaces. Recent research shows that a lack of exposure to greenery during childhood could lead to mental health issues later in life.
For the survey, the researchers conducted a study on homes where the subjects lived from age 10. It was found that growing up with limited access to greenery led to a 15 to 55 percent higher risk of developing mental illnesses. “The association remained even after adjusting for urbanization, socioeconomic factors, parental history of mental illness and parental age,” the study authors wrote.
They added, “Individuals have less mental distress, less anxiety and depression, greater wellbeing and healthier cortisol profiles when living in urban areas with more green space compared with less green space.” “For children, if you come back from school and you have a nice yard or you go to the park, that could help children restore their mental capacity faster,” said the lead author. Vegetation can also help filter the polluted air. And previous studies have shown that there have been links between pollution and psychiatric disorders.
"Ensuring access to green space,” they wrote, “and enhancing opportunities for a diverse range of uses, especially in densifying urban environments, could be an important tool for managing and minimizing the global burden of disease increasingly dominated by psychiatric disorders.”
