Study: Trees extend human life span - July 2015

[sharon sanders]

[h=1]Neighborhood greenspace and health in a large urban center[/h]

• Omid Kardan,
• Peter Gozdyra,
• Bratislav Misic,
• Faisal Moola,
• Lyle J. Palmer,
• Tom?? Paus
• &Marc G. Berman

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Scientific Reports 5, Article number: 11610 doi:10.1038/srep11610 Received 08 February 2015
Accepted 01 June 2015

Published 09 July 2015 [h=2]Article tools[/h]

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[h=1]Abstract[/h]

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Studies have shown that natural environments can enhance health and here we build upon that work by examining the associations between comprehensive greenspace metrics and health. We focused on a large urban population center (Toronto, Canada) and related the two domains by combining high-resolution satellite imagery and individual tree data from Toronto with questionnaire-based self-reports of general health perception, cardio-metabolic conditions and mental illnesses from the Ontario Health Study. Results from multiple regressions and multivariate canonical correlation analyses suggest that people who live in neighborhoods with a higher density of trees on their streets report significantly higher health perception and significantly less cardio-metabolic conditions (controlling for socio-economic and demographic factors). We find that having 10 more trees in a city block, on average, improves health perception in ways comparable to an increase in annual personal income of $10,000 and moving to a neighborhood with $10,000 higher median income or being 7 years younger. We also find that having 11 more trees in a city block, on average, decreases cardio-metabolic conditions in ways comparable to an increase in annual personal income of $20,000 and moving to a neighborhood with $20,000 higher median income or being 1.4 years younger.

http://www.nature.com/srep/2015/150709/srep11610/full/srep11610.html