Relationship between Community or Home Gardening and Health of the Elderly: A Web-Based Cross-Sectional Survey in Japan.

Daisuke Machida

doi:10.3390/ijerph16081389

Abstract

There have been many reports indicating the relationship between gardening and health or healthy lifestyles among adults in developed countries all over the world. However, Japanese evidence is lacking. The aim of this study was to clarify the relationship between community or home gardening and health status or a healthy lifestyle using a web-based survey with Japanese elderly living in the community. A survey was conducted to gather data from 500 gardeners and 500 nongardeners aged 60 to 69. As a result, significant relationships were shown between community gardening and exercise habits, physical activity, eating vegetables, and connections with neighbors. Moreover, the significant relationships between home gardening and the following items were indicated: Subjective happiness, exercise habits, physical activity, sitting time, eating breakfast, eating vegetables, eating balanced meals, and connections with neighbors. No item demonstrated a significant relationship with gardening frequency. A significant relationship was demonstrated between gardening duration and health problems affecting everyday life. Further significant relationships were shown between gardening with others and subjective happiness, having a reason for living. In conclusion, promising positive relationships between community or home gardening and health or healthy lifestyles were indicated.

Highlights

The aim of this study was to clarify the relationship between community or home gardening and health status or a healthy lifestyle using a web-based survey for Japanese elderly living in the community
This study clarified the relationship between community or home gardening and health status or a healthy lifestyle for Japanese elderly living in the community
The results reveal the positive relationship between community gardening and exercise habits, physical activity, eating vegetables, and connections with neighbors; and between home gardening and subjective happiness, exercise habits, physical activity, sitting time, eating breakfast, eating vegetables, eating balanced meals, and connections with neighbors

Summary

Introduction

There have been many reports that have indicated a positive relationship between gardening and health or healthy lifestyles among adults in developed countries all over the world [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8].They have reported the positive effects as follows: Greater fruit and vegetable intake [1,2,3,4,5,6,7], physical activity [1,3,4,5,8], self-rated health [5], body mass index (BMI) [3,5,8], mental health [1,4,5,6,8], and social well-being [1,4,5,6,8], among patients and the wider community. There have been many reports that have indicated a positive relationship between gardening and health or healthy lifestyles among adults in developed countries all over the world [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. One study was conducted in Tokyo, the capital of Japan and one of the most

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Discussion

Conclusion