Chair Care and the Natural Living Environment, Centre for General Practice, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.
Provincial Institute for Hygiene (PIH), Knowledge Centre for Environment and Health, Province of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.
Front Public Health. 2021 May 11;9:646568. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.646568. eCollection 2021.
Visiting nature is positively associated with physical and mental well-being. The role of nature became more pronounced during the coronavirus outbreak in the spring of 2020. Countries all over the world implemented confinement measures to reduce the transmission of the virus. These included but were not limited to the cancelation of public events, schools, and non-essential businesses and the prohibition of non-essential travels. However, going outside to exercise was recommended by the Belgian government. During this period, we conducted an online survey to determine if people visit nature more frequently than before and to identify the factors that contribute to this. The results are based on data from 11,352 participants in Flanders, Belgium. With the use of a bivariate and multiple regression analysis, results indicate that people visit nature more frequently than before and that nature helped to maintain social relationships during the coronavirus period. Gardens were reported to be the most popular place, followed by parks. More than half of the people experienced nature in a more positive way, and the belief that nature visits are important for general health increased. In addition, we found a positive association between nature visits and home satisfaction, as well as a positive association with subjective mental and physical health. Lastly, we identified several demographic factors contributing to the frequency of nature visits such as age, gender, and socioeconomic status. Our findings indicate the importance of nature visits for general well-being and highlight the need for nearby green infrastructure.
接触自然与身心健康呈正相关。在 2020 年春季冠状病毒爆发期间，自然的作用更加凸显。世界各国都实施了隔离措施，以减少病毒的传播。这些措施包括但不限于取消公共活动、学校和非必要的企业，以及禁止非必要的旅行。然而，比利时政府建议人们外出锻炼。在此期间，我们进行了一项在线调查，以确定人们是否比以前更频繁地接触自然，并确定促成这一现象的因素。这些结果基于来自比利时弗兰德斯的 11352 名参与者的数据。通过使用双变量和多元回归分析，结果表明人们比以前更频繁地接触自然，并且自然有助于在冠状病毒期间维持社会关系。报告显示，花园是最受欢迎的地方，其次是公园。超过一半的人对自然的体验更加积极，并且相信接触自然对整体健康很重要。此外，我们发现接触自然与对家的满意度呈正相关，与主观身心健康也呈正相关。最后，我们确定了一些导致接触自然频率的人口统计学因素，例如年龄、性别和社会经济地位。我们的研究结果表明接触自然对整体幸福感的重要性，并强调了附近绿色基础设施的必要性。
