Abstract
Physical inactivity poses a significant challenge to physical and mental health. Environmental approaches to tackle physical inactivity have identified natural environments as potentially important public health resources. Despite this, little is known about characteristics of the activity involved when individuals visit different types of natural environment.Using Natural England's Monitor of Engagement with the Natural Environment Survey, we examined 71,603 English respondents' recreational visits to natural environments in the past week. Specifically, we examined the intensity of the activities they undertook on the visits (METs), the duration of their visit, and the associated total energy expenditure (MET minutes).Visits to countryside and urban greenspace environments were associated with more intense activities than visits to coastal environments. However, visits to coastal environments were associated with the most energy expenditure overall due to their relatively long duration. Results differed by the urbanity or rurality of the respondent's residence and also how far respondents travelled to their destination.Knowledge of what types of natural environment afford the highest volumes and intensities of physical activity could inform landscape architecture and exercise prescriptions. Isolating activity-supporting characteristics of natural environments that can be translated into urban design is important in providing physical activity opportunities for those less able to access expansive environments.
Highlights
Despite widespread evidence that physical activity (PA) can reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, cancers, diabetes, and obesity (The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, 2008), and enhance mental well-being (Downward and Dawson, 2015; Ekkekakis, 2015), physical inactivity is one of the leading risk factors for death worldwide (World Health Organization, 2009)
The present study addresses limitations with the above literature using the Monitor of Engagement with the Natural Environment Survey (MENE; Natural England, 2015); a dataset concerning recreational visits to natural environments
Activities undertaken in coastal environments are lower in METs
Summary
Despite widespread evidence that physical activity (PA) can reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, cancers, diabetes, and obesity (The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, 2008), and enhance mental well-being (Downward and Dawson, 2015; Ekkekakis, 2015), physical inactivity is one of the leading risk factors for death worldwide (World Health Organization, 2009). Economically, inactivity is estimated to cost the UK National Health Service almost £1 billion each year (Scarborough et al, 2011). The scale of the issue warrants ecological approaches concerning environmental supports for PA (Hunter et al, 2015). Natural environments have been identified as having much potential for promoting and eliciting recreational PA (Hartig et al, 2014; Ward Thompson, 2013).L.R. Elliott et al / Social Science & Medicine 139 (2015) 53e60
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