It always feels better to go outside, move around a little bit, and get some fresh air. But this week on Possibly we look into the research, do green spaces actually improve our health?
Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall.
Going outside and getting fresh air sure feels good, but does it make a measurable impact on our health? This week, Isha Thakkar and Sedi-Anne Blachford from our Possibly team have more on a research study that is trying to answer that question.
Isha Thakkar: Hi, Megan!
Sedi-Anne Blachford: Hello!
Megan Hall: So, can green spaces really make us happier and healthier?
Isha Thakkar: To answer this question, we talked to Dr. Diana Grigsby, an associate professor at the Brown School of Public Health
Dr. Diana Grigsby: My work focuses primarily around looking at environmental influences on health, primarily with vulnerable populations.
Sedi-Anne Blachford: Diana is the founder of The Social Epidemiology Lab at Brown University. She’s interested in how factors like someone’s income, race, gender, or neighborhood may influence their health.
Isha Thakkar: Right now, Diana is working on a research study called Project Green Space — or Project G Space for short. She says it’s…
Dr. Diana Grigsby: a project that looks at the influence of green space exposure across cities in Rhode Island among elementary school children, and looks to see what the potential influences are on mental health, on sleep, on physical activity.
Sedi-Anne Blachford: To find how green spaces affect health, Project G Space collects data from children by giving them GPS devices. These devices track where participants spend most of their time, and how much greeness is in these areas.
Isha Thakkar: Diana says green spaces could be anything from playgrounds, parks, or just grassy open space.
Sedi-Anne Blachford: The study also sends out daily surveys to the children’s parents, asking them questions about how easily their kids fell asleep, how happy they seemed, and how much physical exercise they got.
Isha Thakkar: The study is still in progress, but they’re already seeing some results.
Dr. Diana Grigsby: We are seeing a lot of benefits in terms of cognition, in terms of neural development, in terms of physical activity, in terms of, you know, developing movement, in terms of way finding.
Megan Hall: How do they know this?
Sedi-Anne Blachford: By collecting saliva samples! The study looks at concentrations of certain compounds created in our saliva that can indicate stress levels.
Isha Thakkar: They also use memory games to see how well kids can remember a series of letters, and ask them questions about how they are feeling and sleeping when they go outside or stay inside.
Sedi-Anne Blachford: Through these methods, the study is looking for evidence that aligns with other research that shows spending some time outside could make kids feel less stressed, form better sleep habits, and remember better.
Isha Thakkar: But to learn exactly why green spaces are so important for children, we decided to ask a kid.
Claire: I like going to parks because it is like, outside and there are like swings and slides and a bunch of things made for you to play.
Megan Hall: That’s my daughter Claire! She was one of the participants in Project Green Space. I asked her how she’d feel if she couldn’t play outside.
Claire: I was just be so sad and feel like I was just trapped in a box, and just be terrible. I would not like that.
Sedi-Anne Blachford: And Diana says the benefits parks have for children start before they’re even born!
Dr. Grigsby: Pregnant women, for example, that have more exposure to green space are more likely to have better birth outcomes, so things like higher birth weight.
Isha Thakkar: Previous research has shown that marginalized populations, including people of color and low-income communities are less likely to have access to urban green spaces.
Sedi-Anne Blachford: This includes having access to forests, big grassy areas, and even just trees around the neighborhood.
Megan Hall: Which means, they’re not getting all of those health benefits?
Isha Thakkar: Yes! So it’s true that green spaces can make us happier, and every community deserves access to them!
Megan Hall: Great! Thanks, Isha and Sedi-Anne!
That’s it for today.
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Possibly is a co-production of Brown University’s Institute for Environment and Society, Brown’s Climate Solutions Initiative, and the Public’s Radio.
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