Impact of outdoor nature-related activities on gut microbiota, fecal serotonin, and perceived stress in preschool children: the Play&Grow randomized controlled trial

Tanja Sobko,Hein M Tun,Suisha Liang,Will H G Cheng

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-78642-2

Tanja Sobko, Hein M Tun + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-78642-2

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Abstract

Due to rapid urbanization, children today have fewer opportunities to interact with nature and this may result in a greater risk for developing stress and depression. Outdoor nature-related activities can enhance general well-being. However, the underlying mechanisms are not fully delineated. Here we recruited 54 preschool children to participate in a 10-week structured nature-related “Play&Grow” program. Following the intervention, children were assessed for connectedness to nature and perceived stress levels using validated questionnaires. Moreover, fecal serotonin level and gut microbiota profiles were measured by ELISA and 16S rDNA amplicon sequencing, respectively. Children were significantly more connected to nature after the intervention. Their gut microbiota altered, especially by modulating the abundance of Roseburia and the fecal-serotonin level. Moreover, we also observed a reduction in the overall perceived stress, particularly in the frequency of anger among these children. This study is the first to demonstrate the impact of nature-related activities on gut microbiota, fecal serotonin and psychosocial behaviour of preschool children. However, further mechanistic studies are needed to confirm the functional role of gut microbiota in the association between connectedness to nature and improved psychosocial behavior.

Highlights

Due to rapid urbanization, children today have fewer opportunities to interact with nature and this may result in a greater risk for developing stress and depression
We observed that early environmental education intervention significantly reduced the overall perceived stress, anger frequency among preschool children, modulated the abundance of certain gut microbiota, and in contrast to the respective control condition, did not reduce gut serotonin levels
In our early environmental educational intervention study, we demonstrated the impact of nature-related activities on gut microbiota, fecal serotonin, and in improving psychosocial behaviour of preschool children

Summary

Introduction

Children today have fewer opportunities to interact with nature and this may result in a greater risk for developing stress and depression. Children were significantly more connected to nature after the intervention Their gut microbiota altered, especially by modulating the abundance of Roseburia and the fecal-serotonin level. This study is the first to demonstrate the impact of nature-related activities on gut microbiota, fecal serotonin and psychosocial behaviour of preschool children. Our understanding is still limited in regard to microbiota associated functional changeset in relationship with the mental health of children, despite these indicators. Another possibly significant link between gut microbiota and behaviours is serotonin, or 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), which is involved in the modulation of a variety of physiological and psychological p rocesses[13,14]. Exposing children to a higher bacterial load in the natural environment by encouraging them to play outside may be a reasonable way to increase the diversity of their intestinal microbiota[19]

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