The Children & Nature Network reports an Australian study (by ABC’s Layla Tucak) which says that gut health, mental wellbeing and immunity are linked to outdoor play. This begins:
Playing in nature used to be a part of everyone’s childhood but researchers say it has become an increasingly foreign concept in Western countries with changes to the way we live, the places we live in and advances in technology. “Your connection to nature established early in life to your experiences can actually influence [your] life course’s wellbeing,” Canadian naturopath and health researcher Alan Logan said. “And this is not just one or two studies, there have been several studies combined that have clearly shown this connection.” Logan was one of the keynote speakers at a Children and Nature conference held in Perth this weekend, that has attracted specialists from around the world. He said studies show nature has positive impacts on stress levels and depression: “Even a view out the window in an academic setting or the workplace, can influence stress and so forth as well as performance.”
Much of this is familiar to us, of course, but it contains a message we seem reluctant to take much notice of. Maybe knowing that gut health is also affected will change all this. Maybe …