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Campus green spaces enhance quality of life
September 30, 2008Students more satisfied when they go green
SAN MARCOS, TX - The next time you see students playing an energized game of touch football or studying in the sunshine on a college quadrangle, consider this: campus green spaces can help students feel better about life and improve learning.
Trying to determine the relationship between availability and access to green spaces and students' quality of life, researchers at Texas State University recently surveyed 373 undergraduates at the San Marcos campus. Results of the survey were published in the April 2008 issue of the American Society for Horticultural Science's journal, HortTechnology.
Depending on their answers to survey questions, respondents were ranked as "low users", "medium users", or "high users" of campus green spaces. More than 90 percent of respondents were ranked as either high or medium users of green space. Students were also asked to rate their perception of quality of life. A mean score of more than four (on a scale of 1 to 5) indicated that most students rated their quality of life as positive.
According to A.L. McFarland, a graduate student in the Department of Agriculture at TSU and primary author of the study, the researchers were able to make a "statistically significant" correlation between green space users and those who gave a high rating to their quality of life. "These findings indicated that those (students) who used campus green spaces more frequently rated their overall quality of life higher when compared with students who used the campus green spaces and arboretum less frequently", said McFarland.
Higher quality of life wasn't the only bonus for green space users. "High users" of campus green spaces also rated their cognitive ability to apply knowledge learned in college as higher when compared to those students who spent less time in green spaces. It appears that going green is not just for the environment anymore, so, students-get outside and get happy!
American Society for Horticultural Science
Depending on their answers to survey questions, respondents were ranked as "low users", "medium users", or "high users" of campus green spaces. More than 90 percent of respondents were ranked as either high or medium users of green space. Students were also asked to rate their perception of quality of life. A mean score of more than four (on a scale of 1 to 5) indicated that most students rated their quality of life as positive.
According to A.L. McFarland, a graduate student in the Department of Agriculture at TSU and primary author of the study, the researchers were able to make a "statistically significant" correlation between green space users and those who gave a high rating to their quality of life. "These findings indicated that those (students) who used campus green spaces more frequently rated their overall quality of life higher when compared with students who used the campus green spaces and arboretum less frequently", said McFarland.
Higher quality of life wasn't the only bonus for green space users. "High users" of campus green spaces also rated their cognitive ability to apply knowledge learned in college as higher when compared to those students who spent less time in green spaces. It appears that going green is not just for the environment anymore, so, students-get outside and get happy!
American Society for Horticultural Science
Green Space Current Events and Green Space News RSSGreen neighborhoods may reduce childhood obesity
Childhood obesity can lead to type 2 diabetes, asthma, hypertension, sleep apnea and emotional distress. Obese children and youth are likely to be obese as adults, experience more cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure and stroke and incur higher healthcare costs.
Neighborhood greenness has long term positive impact on kids' health
In the first study to look at the effect of neighborhood greenness on inner city children's weight over time, researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and the University of Washington report that higher neighborhood greenness is associated with slower increases in children's body mass over a two year period, regardless of residential density.
Expanding communities mean less green space
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Childhood weight linked to proximity to green space and food stores
Living in greener neighborhoods or in closer proximity to grocery stores is associated with reduced risk of being overweight, according to a study of more than 7,000 children ages 3 to 18 conducted by researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine; the Department of Geography, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis; and the University of Cincinnati.
Children need 60 minutes of daily physical activity, expert panel says
School-age children should participate in 60 minutes or more of moderate to vigorous physical activity daily, according to an expert panel.
How city dwellers and living things put the green into our urban open spaces
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Urban green spaces lengthen pensioners' lives
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