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Vitamin Nature: How Coronavirus Disease 2019 Has Highlighted Factors Contributing to the Frequency of Nature Visits in Flanders, Belgium

Visiting nature is positively associated with physical and mental well-being. The role of nature became more pronounced during the coronavirus outbreak in the spring of 2020. Countries all over the world implemented confinement measures to reduce the transmission of the virus. These included but wer...

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Autores principales: Lenaerts, Aline, Heyman, Sofie, De Decker, Annelies, Lauwers, Laura, Sterckx, Ann, Remmen, Roy, Bastiaens, Hilde, Keune, Hans
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8144317/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34046388
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.646568
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author Lenaerts, Aline
Heyman, Sofie
De Decker, Annelies
Lauwers, Laura
Sterckx, Ann
Remmen, Roy
Bastiaens, Hilde
Keune, Hans
author_facet Lenaerts, Aline
Heyman, Sofie
De Decker, Annelies
Lauwers, Laura
Sterckx, Ann
Remmen, Roy
Bastiaens, Hilde
Keune, Hans
author_sort Lenaerts, Aline
collection PubMed
description Visiting nature is positively associated with physical and mental well-being. The role of nature became more pronounced during the coronavirus outbreak in the spring of 2020. Countries all over the world implemented confinement measures to reduce the transmission of the virus. These included but were not limited to the cancelation of public events, schools, and non-essential businesses and the prohibition of non-essential travels. However, going outside to exercise was recommended by the Belgian government. During this period, we conducted an online survey to determine if people visit nature more frequently than before and to identify the factors that contribute to this. The results are based on data from 11,352 participants in Flanders, Belgium. With the use of a bivariate and multiple regression analysis, results indicate that people visit nature more frequently than before and that nature helped to maintain social relationships during the coronavirus period. Gardens were reported to be the most popular place, followed by parks. More than half of the people experienced nature in a more positive way, and the belief that nature visits are important for general health increased. In addition, we found a positive association between nature visits and home satisfaction, as well as a positive association with subjective mental and physical health. Lastly, we identified several demographic factors contributing to the frequency of nature visits such as age, gender, and socioeconomic status. Our findings indicate the importance of nature visits for general well-being and highlight the need for nearby green infrastructure.
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spelling pubmed-81443172021-05-26 Vitamin Nature: How Coronavirus Disease 2019 Has Highlighted Factors Contributing to the Frequency of Nature Visits in Flanders, Belgium Lenaerts, Aline Heyman, Sofie De Decker, Annelies Lauwers, Laura Sterckx, Ann Remmen, Roy Bastiaens, Hilde Keune, Hans Front Public Health Public Health Visiting nature is positively associated with physical and mental well-being. The role of nature became more pronounced during the coronavirus outbreak in the spring of 2020. Countries all over the world implemented confinement measures to reduce the transmission of the virus. These included but were not limited to the cancelation of public events, schools, and non-essential businesses and the prohibition of non-essential travels. However, going outside to exercise was recommended by the Belgian government. During this period, we conducted an online survey to determine if people visit nature more frequently than before and to identify the factors that contribute to this. The results are based on data from 11,352 participants in Flanders, Belgium. With the use of a bivariate and multiple regression analysis, results indicate that people visit nature more frequently than before and that nature helped to maintain social relationships during the coronavirus period. Gardens were reported to be the most popular place, followed by parks. More than half of the people experienced nature in a more positive way, and the belief that nature visits are important for general health increased. In addition, we found a positive association between nature visits and home satisfaction, as well as a positive association with subjective mental and physical health. Lastly, we identified several demographic factors contributing to the frequency of nature visits such as age, gender, and socioeconomic status. Our findings indicate the importance of nature visits for general well-being and highlight the need for nearby green infrastructure. Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-05-11 /pmc/articles/PMC8144317/ /pubmed/34046388 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.646568 Text en Copyright © 2021 Lenaerts, Heyman, De Decker, Lauwers, Sterckx, Remmen, Bastiaens and Keune. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Public Health
Lenaerts, Aline
Heyman, Sofie
De Decker, Annelies
Lauwers, Laura
Sterckx, Ann
Remmen, Roy
Bastiaens, Hilde
Keune, Hans
Vitamin Nature: How Coronavirus Disease 2019 Has Highlighted Factors Contributing to the Frequency of Nature Visits in Flanders, Belgium
title Vitamin Nature: How Coronavirus Disease 2019 Has Highlighted Factors Contributing to the Frequency of Nature Visits in Flanders, Belgium
title_full Vitamin Nature: How Coronavirus Disease 2019 Has Highlighted Factors Contributing to the Frequency of Nature Visits in Flanders, Belgium
title_fullStr Vitamin Nature: How Coronavirus Disease 2019 Has Highlighted Factors Contributing to the Frequency of Nature Visits in Flanders, Belgium
title_full_unstemmed Vitamin Nature: How Coronavirus Disease 2019 Has Highlighted Factors Contributing to the Frequency of Nature Visits in Flanders, Belgium
title_short Vitamin Nature: How Coronavirus Disease 2019 Has Highlighted Factors Contributing to the Frequency of Nature Visits in Flanders, Belgium
title_sort vitamin nature: how coronavirus disease 2019 has highlighted factors contributing to the frequency of nature visits in flanders, belgium
topic Public Health
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8144317/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34046388
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.646568
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