Parks and green areas promote physical activity, nature, and community interaction, improving health.
Health care practitioners might prescribe nature-based programs as cost-effective alternatives.
Lincoln Larson and Aaron Hipp, associate professors of parks, recreation, and tourist management at NC State,,,
discuss how parks and green spaces might improve health in a recent North Carolina Medical Journal article.
We recently spoke with Larson and Hipp about the usefulness of these places, the programs that use them, and accessible equity challenges. See it below.
Larson, Hipp: Green spaces can range from limited (forested areas) to vast (any landscape with natural components, like a garden or street trees).
Our definition of green space encompasses natural ecosystems and built environment elements including public parks,,,
greenways, gardens, woodlands, private yards, and other natural spaces.
Larson and Hipp: Parks and green spaces offer free, public benefits, making them a cost-effective alternative or supplement to conventional health promotion techniques.
They also reduce cholesterol, hypertension, and obesity to promote cardiovascular health.
Parks can promote healthy eating through community gardens and farmers' markets.