Living near green space makes you 2.5 years younger: Study

WASHINGTON - City parks and green spaces help counter heat, boost biodiversity and instil a sense of calm in the urban jungle.

They also help slow biological ageing.

A new study published on Wednesday in the journal Science Advances found that people who have access to green spaces were on average 2½ years biologically younger than those who did not.

“Living near more greenness can help you be younger than your actual age,” said Dr Kyeezu Kim, the study’s lead author and a postdoctoral scholar at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.

“We believe our findings have significant implications for urban planning in terms of expanding green infrastructure to promote public health and reduce health disparities.”

Exposure to green spaces has previously been linked with better cardiovascular health and lower rates of mortality.

It is thought that more physical activity and social interactions are at play, but whether parks actually slowed down ageing on a cellular level has been unclear. To investigate, the team behind the study examined DNA chemical modifications known as “methylation”.

Prior work has shown that so-called “epigenetic clocks” based on DNA methylation can be a good predictor of health conditions such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, cognitive function and a more accurate way of measuring age than calendar years.

Dr Kim and her colleagues followed more than 900 white and black people from four American cities – Birmingham, Chicago, Minneapolis and Oakland – over a period of 20 years, from 1986 to 2006.

Using satellite imaging, the team assessed how close the participants’ residential addresses were to surrounding vegetation and parks, and paired this data with blood samples taken in year 15 and year 20 of the study, to determine their biological age.

The team constructed statistical models to evaluate the results, and control for other variables such as education, income, and behavioural factors such as smoking, that might have affected the results.

They found that people whose homes were surrounded by 30 per cent green cover within a 5km radius were on average 2½ years younger biologically compared with those whose homes were surrounded by 20 per cent green cover.

The benefits were not evenly shared. Black people with more access to green space were only one year biologically younger, while white people were three years younger.

“Other factors, such as stress, qualities of the surrounding green space and other social support can affect the degree of benefits of green spaces in terms of biological ageing,” said Dr Kim, explaining the disparities required further study.

For example, parks in deprived neighbourhoods used for illicit activities might be less frequented, negating the benefits.

Next steps might involve investigating the link between green spaces and specific health outcomes, she added.

It is also not yet clear how exactly greenery reduces ageing – only that it does, added Dr Kim.

Epidemiologist Manuel Franco of the University of Alcala and Johns Hopkins called the research a “well-designed study”.

“We have more and better scientific evidence to increase and promote the use of urban green spaces,” added Dr Franco, who was not involved in the study. AFP