Daily 'green' exercise boosts mental health

HEALTH BRIEFING:JUST FIVE minutes of exercise a day in the great outdoors can improve mental health, according to a British study released at the weekend.

It recommended that policymakers should encourage more people to spend time in parks and gardens.

Researchers from the University of Essex found that as little as five minutes of a “green activity” such as walking, gardening, cycling or farming can boost mood and self-esteem.

“We believe that there would be a large potential benefit to individuals, society and to the costs of the health service if all groups of people were to self-medicate more with green exercise,” one of the study’s authors, Dr Jo Barton, said.

Many studies have shown that outdoor exercise can reduce the risk of mental illness and improve wellbeing, but Prof Jules Pretty and Dr Barton said that until now no one knew how much time needed to be spent on green exercise for the benefits to show.

They looked at data from 1,252 people of different ages, genders and mental health status taken from 10 existing studies in Britain. They analysed activities such as walking, gardening, cycling, fishing, boating, horse-riding and farming.

They found that the greatest health changes occurred in the young and the mentally ill, although people of all ages and social groups benefited. The largest positive effect on self-esteem came from a five-minute dose of “green exercise”.

All natural environments were beneficial, including city and town parks, they said, but green areas with water appeared to have a more positive effect.

The study was published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.

Unilever extends health scheme after success

MULTINATIONAL GIANT Unilever is to roll out a health and fitness programme across all its Irish sites following the success of a pilot programme.

More than 100 Unilever employees based at the company’s Irish headquarters in Citywest took part in a trial programme last year. Health checks were introduced on a voluntary basis. Employees were given information explaining health indicators such as blood pressure and body mass index (BMI), and a personalised fitness plan was introduced for participating employees.

Among the Irish employees taking part in the programme was Richard Finnegan (40), a customer director with Unilever Ireland, who was told he was overweight and had a 12 per cent chance of a heart attack in the next 10 years.

He has since changed his lifestyle, given up smoking and plans to run a marathon in July.

The pilot programme was carried out using 1,700 employees in the UK and Ireland, and will now be rolled out to all 7,500 employees in both countries.

It found that more than a quarter of all factory workers and 9 per cent of office workers lost weight as a result of the programme. More than half (52 per cent) of all office workers and 42 per cent of factory workers acknowledged the programme had changed their diet.

Unilever health and vitality manager Breckon Jones said the results showed that health programmes were a “win-win” for both employers and employees. “All our health checks are voluntary. We simply encourage our employees to get involved in health issues and stick to it,” he said.

Nasal spray helps male empathy

A SIMPLE nasal spray can make men more empathetic, a team of German and UK researchers has found.

Inhaling the drug oxytocin made men just as empathetic as women, said the researchers, writing in the Journal of Neuroscience. The study, involving 48 volunteers, also showed that the spray boosted the ability to learn from positive feedback. The researchers also said the spray may be useful for boosting behaviour therapy in conditions such as schizophrenia.