IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i9p4585-d543759.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Physical Activity Supporting Connection to Nature, and Helping to Maintain Wellbeing during the Covid-19 Restrictions in England

Author

Listed:
  • Liz O’Brien

    (Forest Research, Social and Economic Research Group, Farnham GU10 4LH, UK)

  • Jack Forster

    (Forest Research, Social and Economic Research Group, Farnham GU10 4LH, UK)

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic and the restrictions put in place to prevent or reduce the spread of the disease led to anxiety, concern and stress for many people. In England restrictions varied at different times of the year, and throughout this time there was a lot of attention focused on the importance of exercise and on engaging with nature to maintain wellbeing. We undertook an online survey that ran for six weeks in June/July 2020 and gained a response from 2115 people, of which 25% were male and 74% female, with 35% aged 16–44 and 65% aged 45+. This survey focused on people who were already interested or engaged with nature. We explored whether being physically activity changed or not, if being active impacted people’s wellbeing and whether those who were active benefited from connecting to nature. We found that those meeting the government recommended levels of physical activity in the previous week, of 150 min, were more likely to maintain their overall wellbeing through feeling that the things they did in their life were worthwhile ( p < 0.0001) and reported an increase in feelings of connection to nature ( p < 0.0001). While those who did less than 30 min of physical activity in the previous week were less happy ( p < 0.0001) and more anxious than usual ( p < 0.0001). The research highlights the importance of physical activity and contact with nature and how these can play important roles in maintaining people’s everyday wellbeing under extremely difficult national circumstances.

Suggested Citation

  • Liz O’Brien & Jack Forster, 2021. "Physical Activity Supporting Connection to Nature, and Helping to Maintain Wellbeing during the Covid-19 Restrictions in England," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-13, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:9:p:4585-:d:543759
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/9/4585/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/9/4585/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Venter, Zander & Barton, David & gundersen, vegard & Figari, Helene & Nowell, Megan, 2020. "Urban nature in a time of crisis: recreational use of green space increases during the COVID-19 outbreak in Oslo, Norway," SocArXiv kbdum, Center for Open Science.
    2. Zhanjia Zhang & Weiyun Chen, 2019. "A Systematic Review of the Relationship Between Physical Activity and Happiness," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 1305-1322, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Andy Pringle & Nicky Kime & Stephen Zwolinsky & Zoe Rutherford & Clare M. P. Roscoe, 2022. "An Investigation into the Physical Activity Experiences of People Living with and beyond Cancer during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-20, March.
    2. Sebastian Hinde & Laura Bojke & Peter Coventry, 2021. "The Cost Effectiveness of Ecotherapy as a Healthcare Intervention, Separating the Wood from the Trees," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-13, November.
    3. Niamh Smith & Ronan Foley & Michail Georgiou & Zoë Tieges & Sebastien Chastin, 2022. "Urban Blue Spaces as Therapeutic Landscapes: “A Slice of Nature in the City”," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-20, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bruno Marques & Jacqueline McIntosh & Chitrakala Muthuveerappan & Krzysztof Herman, 2022. "The Importance of Outdoor Spaces during the COVID-19 Lockdown in Aotearoa—New Zealand," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-17, June.
    2. Sumaira Kayani & Jin Wang & Michele Biasutti & María Luisa Zagalaz Sánchez & Tayyaba Kiyani & Saima Kayani, 2020. "Mechanism Between Physical Activity and Academic Anxiety: Evidence from Pakistan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-17, April.
    3. Hui, Ling Chui & Jim, C.Y., 2022. "Urban-greenery demands are affected by perceptions of ecosystem services and disservices, and socio-demographic and environmental-cultural factors," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    4. Luyang Chen & Lingbo Liu & Hao Wu & Zhenghong Peng & Zhihao Sun, 2022. "Change of Residents’ Attitudes and Behaviors toward Urban Green Space Pre- and Post- COVID-19 Pandemic," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-16, July.
    5. Carolina Mayen Huerta & Ariane Utomo, 2022. "Barriers Affecting Women’s Access to Urban Green Spaces during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-18, April.
    6. Mingxin Liu & Chenxi Chen & Jiaqi Yan, 2023. "Identifying Park Spatial Characteristics That Encourage Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity among Park Visitors," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-22, March.
    7. LU, Yi & Zhao, Jianting & Wu, Xueying & Lo, Siu Ming, 2020. "Escaping to nature in pandemic: a natural experiment of COVID-19 in Asian cities," SocArXiv rq8sn, Center for Open Science.
    8. Emad B. Dawwas & Karen Dyson, 2021. "COVID-19 Changed Human-Nature Interactions across Green Space Types: Evidence of Change in Multiple Types of Activities from the West Bank, Palestine," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-21, December.
    9. Amer Habibullah & Nawaf Alhajaj & Ahmad Fallatah, 2022. "One-Kilometer Walking Limit during COVID-19: Evaluating Accessibility to Residential Public Open Spaces in a Major Saudi City," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-16, October.
    10. James McGinlay & Jens Holtvoeth & Alfie Begley & Juliana Dörstel & Anne Kockelmann & Michael Lammertz & Chrysovalantis Malesios & Nikoleta Jones, 2023. "Perceived Social Impacts of Protected Areas, Their Influence on Local Public Support and Their Distribution across Social Groups: Evidence from the Eifel National Park, Germany, during the COVID-19 Pa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-19, July.
    11. Noszczyk, Tomasz & Gorzelany, Julia & Kukulska-Kozieł, Anita & Hernik, Józef, 2022. "The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the importance of urban green spaces to the public," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    12. Mare Lõhmus & Cecilia U. D. Stenfors & Tomas Lind & André Lauber & Antonios Georgelis, 2021. "Mental Health, Greenness, and Nature Related Behaviors in the Adult Population of Stockholm County during COVID-19-Related Restrictions," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-21, March.
    13. Brzoska, P. & Grunewald, K. & Bastian, O., 2021. "A multi-criteria analytical method to assess ecosystem services at urban site level, exemplified by two German city districts," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    14. Argyro Anna Kanelli & Panayiotis G. Dimitrakopoulos & Nikolaos M. Fyllas & George P. Chrousos & Olga-Ioanna Kalantzi, 2021. "Engaging the Senses: The Association of Urban Green Space with General Health and Well-Being in Urban Residents," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-15, June.
    15. Mona Jabbari & Zahra Ahmadi & Rui Ramos, 2022. "Defining a Digital System for the Pedestrian Network as a Conceptual Implementation Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-11, February.
    16. Iwona Kantor-Pietraga & Robert Krzysztofik & Maksymilian Solarski, 2023. "Planning Recreation around Water Bodies in Two Hard Coal Post-Mining Areas in Southern Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-25, July.
    17. Angelo Panno & Annalisa Theodorou & Giuseppe Alessio Carbone & Evelina De Longis & Chiara Massullo & Gianluca Cepale & Giuseppe Carrus & Claudio Imperatori & Giovanni Sanesi, 2021. "Go Greener, Less Risk: Access to Nature Is Associated with Lower Risk Taking in Different Domains during the COVID-19 Lockdown," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-17, September.
    18. Julia Rehling & Christiane Bunge & Julia Waldhauer & André Conrad, 2021. "Socioeconomic Differences in Walking Time of Children and Adolescents to Public Green Spaces in Urban Areas—Results of the German Environmental Survey (2014–2017)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-12, February.
    19. Ozgur Yayla & Arif Aytekin & Fatih Uslu & Gozde Seval Ergun & Huseyin Keles & Yigit Guven, 2023. "How Does the Experience Quality of Recreational Activities Organized within the Scope of Public Health Affect Perceived Value, Satisfaction and Behavioral Intentions of Individuals?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-16, March.
    20. Joshua W Morse & Tatiana M Gladkikh & Diana M Hackenburg & Rachelle K Gould, 2020. "COVID-19 and human-nature relationships: Vermonters’ activities in nature and associated nonmaterial values during the pandemic," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(12), pages 1-23, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:9:p:4585-:d:543759. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.