Study Says Gardening Can Increase Emotional Well-Being As Much As Biking And Walking

May 26, 2020 by apost team

If you are feeling down, get your trowel out because there is a recent development connecting home gardening and well-being. The May 2020 study conducted by experts at Princeton and the University of Minnesota has concluded that home gardening is just as emotionally fulfilling as other leisure activities such as biking and walking.

The study published in the scientific journal Landscape and Urban Planning asked "Is gardening associated with greater happiness of urban residents?" and examined subjects in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Scientists delved into the question in detail and discovered based on their evidence that gardening was among the top 5 out of 15 activities they looked at. 

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Compared to those other activities, gardening was statistically on the same level as biking, walking, and eating out. Moreover, the effect of gardening was higher for vegetable gardeners (vs ornamental), low-income gardeners, and for women. The significance of this particular finding was explained by one of the authors:

“This has implications for equity in food action planning considering that people with lower incomes tend to have less access to healthy food options,” said one of the study's author Anu Ramaswami in a press release by Princeton University. “Gardening could provide the health benefits of fresh fruits and vegetables, promote physical activity, and support emotional well-being, which can reinforce this healthy behavior," he continued.

Lead author Graham Ambrose points out factors that did not affect levels of happiness in the study which included race, companionship, and suburban or urban settings. You can see these significant results in a visual way in the study's infographic, found here.

Are you incorporating gardening into your emotional well-being plan? Give it a try, maybe the next time you grow a vegetable it will give you a great deal of satisfaction.

Our content is created to the best of our knowledge, yet it is of general nature and cannot in any way substitute an individual consultation by your doctor. Your health is important to us!