Doctors prescribing people to take a walk in the park rather than taking drugs are increasing worldwide, new research shows.
A review of 92 studies published in The Lancet Planetary Health journal has found a health or social professional prescribing time in nature can reduce blood pressure, depression, anxiety and increase physical activity.
"If we talk about physical health and people in nature, in a park, they can walk around and they can be running, jogging and all this is good for their physical health, but also it's really good for mental health.
"You could just simply be sitting down in the nature hearing the bird song and that help you relax," says research co-author Professor Xiaoqi Feng from the University of New South Wales in Sydney.
"Even better sometimes you don't go there by yourself, you can go there by yourself or meet new friends there, I personally find that I have a little sausage dog, whenever I bring my dog to the park a 10 minute walk may become 20 minutes," she said, describing how people talk to her about her pet.
Studies were carried out in South Korea, USA, Japan, UK and China among other countries and involved people from a range of backgrounds or with underlying health conditions.
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Forests, bush reserves and parks were the most popular locations for prescriptions, and walking, farming, gardening, mindfulness and relaxation were the most popular activities involved.
"I know that it's quite popular now in Canada, there is an organisation called PaRx, they have 10,000 general practices signed up to issue nature prescription. And this is also very popular in US, they probably have known about 10 years about the nature prescription.
"Also in the UK, it's investing in research to see how nature prescription can be done and they're going to spend about 6 million pounds on that," Feng said.
"In Australia during the pandemic we conducted a national survey and it shows 82 per cent of Australian adults are interested in a nature prescription. It clearly shows that nature prescription is very welcome and also that all the health and net social connection benefits that will give to us so I think we really should spend some time in nature," she said.
From the wider pool of evidence, 28 studies were included in a meta-analysis which is when existing statistics are combined.
The study has multiple limitations including the generic design and English-only reporting of included studies meaning some nature-based interventions might have been missed.
Most studies included had a moderate to high risk of bias due to multiple factors including small numbers of people participating.
A participant study is now being planned by UNSW to determine what factors lead to effective implementation of a nature prescription in Australia.
There's new evidence to show it's working, Kate Nicol-Williams explains. (Source: 1News)
Wellington local Jaco Grundling said spending time in Mākara bush near his property is his physical and mental health antidote for getting through weeks which can be stressful due to his job managing railways in the capital.
"It really can grind you down some days and to be able to just... after a strenuous day being able to go out and just enjoy the outdoors, it's something that I think most people really need to get in to," he said.
Grundling traps pests as part of the Capital Kiwi project in Mākara and also enjoys spending time observing native plants and wildlife.
He suggests everyone should give spending some time in nature a go to feel the positive effects, and also give back to the environment through trapping or planting native trees.
Christchurch general practitioner Dr Angus Chambers said nature prescriptions are more common in New Zealand than the public might think but they haven't hit the mainstream.
Chambers said he believes an existing green prescription programme focused on exercise which is available in some parts of the country could be modified to include more of a focus on nature.
He said town planners should also take note of the findings published in The Lancet Planetary Health journal.
"I think we're living in darker, more dense places and there's less trees, like Christchurch has lost quite a lot of tree cover, so it's much bigger, the things that determine health aren't only nurses and doctors."
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