nature is good for children

Children need nature. Particularly those suffering from mental health disorders. A research team from McGill University and the Observatory for the Education and Health of Children of the University of Montreal noted this in a study, recently published in JAMA. Spending time outdoors regularly has been shown to reduce symptoms in children with mental health problems.

Mental health and nature: a unique essay of its kind

“This idea was born during the pandemic. We were then worried about the health of the children who, every day, spent hours and hours inside their schoolexplains Marie-Claude Geoffroy, lead author, associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry at McGill University and holder of the Canada Research Chair in mental health and youth suicide prevention at the Douglas Research Center. I spent a lot of time at the park with my children and I noticed that it did us the greatest good, both for them and for me..” She then thought of launching a study on the effects of nature on behavior and mood. Although observational studies have already been carried out in the past, this is the first time that a comparative trial has been carried out.

For this, the scientists recruited a thousand children aged 10 to 12, from different socio-economic backgrounds. The young participants were divided into two groups: the first continued to have classes inside the school, the others participated in outdoor classes. For the latter, two hours a week were spent in a park. “The staff had to teach the subject planned in the program, specify the authors. We asked teachers to include a 10 to 15 minute activity focused on mental health.” This could be drawing, walking, etc.

Mental health: the more severe the symptoms, the greater the effects of nature

According to teachers’ comments collected after the intervention, children were calmer, relaxed and attentive in class after spending time in nature. “It is in the children whose symptoms were the most marked at the start that the symptomatic decline was the greatest.observes Marie-Claude Geoffroy. These are the children who had the most significant mental health problems at the start of the study: anxiety and depression, aggression and impulsivity or problems interacting with peers.

“This observation seems to indicate that nature programs could provide targeted benefits to children with more fragile mental health and possibly reduce inequalities in mental health among school-aged children.estimates Sylvana Côté, one of the authors of the article, professor at the School of Public Health at the University of Montreal and holder of the Canada Research Chair in the prevention of psychosocial and educational problems in children .

For the various authors of this article, this method of intervention is a promising strategy: inexpensive and risk-free, it seems effective in helping the most vulnerable children facing mental health problems.