Increased physical activity, reduced stress and anxiety… Living near water plants, including in urban areas, is good for your health.
- Living near a water point would encourage more physical activity.
- The sight of water would soothe us, explaining the reduction in stress.
It’s been proven: living near green spaces (forests, parks) is beneficial for both physical and mental health. If the therapeutic virtues of trees are indeed no longer to be demonstrated, it would seem that living near a water point produces similar benefits, underlines a recent research carried out by researchers from the Caledonian University of Glasgow.
That meta-analysis, which compiles around fifty researches, recalls that several studies have demonstrated the benefits of inhabitants located around water plants, in particular to reduce obesity or the risk of premature death. But the link with mental health has yet to be established, the researchers point out. It is precisely on this ground that the latter have investigated.
More sport and less stress
According to their investigations, two parameters could play in favor of the health of people who live in urban areas located near water points. The first would encourage people to do more physical activity. Witness the influx of joggers from the beginning of spring in the big cities, whether on the banks of the Seine in Paris or on the coasts of Marseille.
In the same spirit, the authors of this publication also noted that living near blue spaces would help reduce stress and anxiety. Here again, the explanation turns out to be rather simple: the sight of water would soothe us.
The authors of the publication also draw attention to the need to include more water plants in settlements, especially for reduce air pollution and bring freshness to the inhabitants during heat waves. However, these effects remain to be demonstrated and should be the subject of future studies, the researchers point out.
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