Over half the population of Earth reside in cities, with little access to all the nature around them. In Europe as well as Latin America, the figure is greater than 70 percent. But a connection with nature offers many benefits to our mental and physical health.

Gardening can be a chance for everyone to have this type of daily interaction with the natural world, regardless of whether they reside in urban areas. If you don’t have gardens of their own allotments, or community gardens can be a beneficial source. The demand for allotments is growing, and in some areas, waiting times can be the level of forty years.

However, gardens shouldn’t be an option for people who live in suburban areas. Evidence mounting indicates that they can be an important impact on our overall health and well-being and not only as an exercise option to get physical exercise, but also improve our mental health. There is also some evidence suggesting that gardening can contribute to helping people cope with health issues that are serious like cancer. This makes a convincing argument for housebuilders and governments to make more efforts to provide gardens and allotments for the greatest number of people.

Physical

All kinds of gardening, regardless if it’s a backyard or allotment, is an opportunity to get physical exercise. Gardening is generally thought of to be a an moderate-intensity exercise that is comparable with doing in doubles tennis, or walking at the rate that is 3.5mph, and so has similar benefits for fitness. A study of 269 participants, which my coworkers and I have recently carried out into allotment gardening, discovered an association between gardeners and a lower BMI. Additionally, we discovered that a larger proportion of people who were not gardeners were identified as being overweight.

Gardening can be linked to healthier diets. Gardening at home and in allotments has been essential to producing food for the household. However, gardening can help people eat healthy and serve as a resource for education about healthy foods. Actually, kids who are involved in the garden and cultivate their own food enjoy an increased preference for and more consumption of fruit and vegetables.

Mood enhancer

Research suggests that gardening may boost happiness in life and also aid in recovering from stress. In reality, gardening leads to a greater reduction in stress after the stress test than taking a reading class in a closed space or attending an indoor fitness class.

This is a sign that the benefits to mental health of gardening might be more than a result of the physical exertion required. One reason is the fact that gardening, especially on allotments, may require interactions with others and become part of a larger community. Gardeners frequently share their skills, knowledge and experience with one another and, in turn, build connections and networks of support. People who have strong social networks benefit from a higher life duration greater resilience to life’s stresses, and fewer visits to a doctor.