Abstract
The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes that health and well-being are essential to achieving the United Nations (UN) Development Agenda 2030, which includes the goal of empowering people to adopt active lifestyles while protecting the planet’s health. This article aims at exploring how exercise performed in different natural settings can contribute to improving health and to a more sustainable world. We define “exercise” as a form of physical activity undertaken to increase fitness, health, and well-being, and argue for the importance of “green” and “blue” exercise as forms of physical activity that are associated with the protection and sustainability of natural settings and the promotion of planetary health. Blue and green exercise should become a focus of public policies, especially when outdoor activities are being identified as fundamental for the promotion of mental, physical, social, and spiritual health. The current paper intends to raise the awareness of political decision-makers and professionals in education, environment, and heath sectors for the potential of green and blue exercise as specific exercise practices that are healthy, joyful, and environmentally friendly.
Highlights
Challenges to planetary health require an innovative examination of the different environments where human interactions occur.Such interactions include efforts for individuals to adopt healthy behaviors that encourage environmentally protective behaviors.From a global health perspective, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes that health and well-being are essential to achieving the United Nations (UN) DevelopmentAgenda 2030 and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
We present an update on nature-based exercise as a healthy practice that benefits the individual health and the environment, and is supported in a careful analysis of relevant and recent articles about the theme
Scientific evidence reveals that natural environments are effective in promoting physical activity, reducing psychological stress, and improving well-being
Summary
Challenges to planetary health require an innovative examination of the different environments where human interactions (physical, social, affective, and digital) occur Such interactions include efforts for individuals to adopt healthy behaviors (namely being physically active) that encourage environmentally protective behaviors. We present an update on nature-based exercise (either blue or green) as a healthy practice that benefits the individual health and the environment (planetary health), and is supported in a careful analysis of relevant and recent articles about the theme. We will discuss exercise as a form of physical activity performed to increase fitness, health, and well-being [8], and examine the concepts of “green” and “blue” exercise [3,9], connecting the aim of being fit with the protection and sustainability of natural (green and blue) scenarios
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