A recent study found that children who live close to green spaces, such as parks, gardens, or forests, have a higher likelihood of having stronger and healthier bones.
The study, which is the first of its kind, confirms earlier research showing adults who live in greener areas typically have stronger bones as well.
Researchers at Hasselt University in Belgium discovered that 327 kids between the ages of 4 and 6 who lived in the greenest areas had higher bone mineral density.
The areas that ranked in the top 20 to 25 percent of nearby green space were considered to be the greenest. A ten-minute walk to a green space with tall trees or shrubs was linked to increases in bone density in children living in these areas that were equivalent to half a year’s natural growth.
Furthermore, there was a 61 percent reduction in the likelihood of low bone density scores for kids who lived in the greenest neighborhoods and were within a 20-minute walk of a tall green space.
The findings held true for both genders and took into consideration a wide range of additional variables that have been demonstrated to affect a child’s bone density, such as weight, ethnicity, daily screen time, vitamin supplementation, dairy consumption, season, maternal educational attainment, and neighborhood median annual income.
“These findings highlight the importance of early-life exposure to residential green space on bone health during critical periods of growth and development, with long-term implications,”Hasselt University environmental epidemiologist Hanne Sleurs and colleagues cited.
“Despite increasing evidence about the health benefits of green space exposure, the available studies on the association with bone mineral density are scarce,” Sleurs added.
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