Database

Hospital length of stay (LOS) is often used as a proxy for healthcare cost in the United States. This study investigates the association between outdoor air pollution and LOS among pediatric asthma patients. Air pollution data was collected from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Data on hospitalizations and air pollution were analyzed and show that air pollution was significantly associated with prolonged LOS.

Although hospital length of stay (LOS) has been identified as a proxy measure of healthcare expenditures in the United States, there are limited studies investigating the potentially important association between outdoor air pollution and LOS for pediatric asthma.

Varied categorisations of residential distance to bluespace in population health studies make comparisons difficult. Using survey data from eighteen countries, we modelled relationships between residential distance to blue spaces (coasts, lakes, and rivers), and self-reported recreational visits to these environments at least weekly, with penalised regression splines.

Despite increasing scientific understanding of the global environmental crisis, we struggle to adopt the policies science suggests would be effective.

This article highlights the health and climate benefits of urban green spaces and emphasizes the need for evidence-based strategies to design and manage them effectively. It presents eight practical green space interventions—such as enhancing views, planting near entrances, and optimizing green infrastructure—that integrate human health and climate resilience at the neighborhood and block levels. These interventions address both psychological and physical well-being and aim to strengthen community resilience, while also identifying gaps for future research in green space design.

It is increasingly evident that exposure to green landscape elements benefits human health.

As cities grow and nature retreats from daily life, new research highlights how vital contact with nature is for our mental well-being. This work brings together insights from science and health to show nature’s impact on the mind—and offers a new framework for making mental health part of how we value ecosystems.

A growing body of empirical evidence is revealing the value of nature experience for mental health. With rapid urbanization and declines in human contact with nature globally, crucial decisions must be made about how to preserve and enhance opportunities for nature experience.

In this systematic review, we summarised and evaluated the evidence for benefits of immersive nature-experience on children and adolescents' mental, physical and social health.

Spending time in natural environments can benefit health and well-being, but exposure-response relationships are under-researched.

Para mejorar su salud, la gente decide ir al gimnasio o comer comida orgánica pero ¿qué tal simplemente sentarse bajo un árbol?

Poor mental health carries significant economic costs, yet prevention efforts remain underfunded. This article explores how economic evidence can strengthen the case for investing in mental health prevention and highlights promising areas for action and investment across the life course.

Unprecedented rates of urbanization are changing our understanding of the ways in which children build connections to the natural world, including the importance of educational settings in affecting this relationship.

This study systematically reviewed and analyzed existing research to assess the impact of greenspaces on human health. The findings suggest that greater exposure to greenspaces is broadly associated with a variety of physical and mental health benefits. Overall, the results highlight the potential value of greenspaces in public health strategies and urban planning.

The health benefits of greenspaces have demanded the attention of policymakers since the 1800s.

This report provides a new perspective that merges recent innovations: nature for water management and nature for human health.

A balanced diet and regular exercise are fundamental for good health, and a daily dose of nature may be equally important. Nearly 40 years of research has demonstrated that “metro nature”—nature found in urban environments, such as parks or tree-lined streets—provides positive and measurable health benefits and improves people’s quality of life.

At a time of increasing disconnectedness from nature, scientific interest in the potential health benefits of nature contact has grown. Research in recent decades has yielded substantial evidence, but large gaps remain in our understanding.

People can make choices to improve personal health, such as going to the gym or eating organic food, but what about just sitting under a tree?

This article reports the outcomes of a systematic review of observational park-based physical activity (PA) studies.