Forest bathing, kids in green spaces – health benefits of being close to nature shown in Hong Kong programmes
- HKU research with Hong Kong families shows preschool children who spend time in nature are less distressed or hyperactive than those who don’t
- Former lawyer who discovered the health benefits of being in nature while fighting cancer leads forest bathing sessions to help people reconnect with nature
Finding ways to reconnect with nature is a major issue in the modern world as a growing number of studies show how an urban environment creates “child-nature disconnectedness”.
In highly urbanised Hong Kong, young children are often stressed and depressed, with 16 per cent of pre-schoolers in the city showing signs of mental health problems, according to research. In China the figure is as high as 22 per cent.
And if a United Nations report on global urbanisation is to be believed, the future looks bleak. By 2050, 66 per cent of the world’s population is projected to live in cities.
The World Health Organisation recommends every child has access to “green spaces to play and undertake physical activity”; it says these spaces should be within 300 metres of where a child lives. In Hong Kong, 90 per cent of the population lives within 400 metres of green spaces, says a study by the University of Hong Kong (HKU), but families are not making use of them.
“We noticed that parents are avoiding nature,” says Dr Tanja Sobko from the School of Biological Sciences at HKU. “They perceive it as dirty and dangerous, and their children unfortunately pick up these attitudes. And the green areas are often unwelcoming, with signs like ‘Keep off the grass’.”