The Quick Facts: Families and individuals do not get outside for fresh air often enough, all year long. We spend time inside working, eating, sleeping, and playing. Meanwhile, experts say that there are many human health benefits of spending time in the fresh air of outdoors.
This past winter (2010-2011) in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast has been particularly hard; record back-to-back snowstorms, windy days, and cold temperatures. Sure, winter is winter, but I found that, this year, multiple days in a row shuttered indoors were more unbearable than ever and affected my family’s well-being. I realized this mostly the first day that my toddler and I could go outside and not have to trudge through feet of snow, or bundle-up with endless layers to play. We really did miss the outdoors.
As we exited the house, my toddler hesitated to take the next step into the colder air. I paused, too, but after a few cold breaths, I picked her up and trotted through the yard, hoping to build excitement for our new cold weather play time. As my daughter was not a fan of playing in the snow or sleigh rides, our activities were limited with wet, melting, piles of snow. So, we took to the street and pretended to fly like birds (her favorite animal at the time). The giggles were endless and the expression on her face was priceless. I felt more air getting into my lungs than ever before, and knew my daughter’s lungs were being refreshed as well.
After our morning time outdoors, I noticed my toddler and I had a brighter disposition and outlook for the rest of the day (and even had bigger smiles for when Daddy came home from work), happier facial expressions, hungry stomachs, and we napped incredibly well that afternoon and slept great that night. As with a typical winter around here, the following days were much colder and windier, with more snow. So, we were back inside, and I noticed an immediate difference in eating and sleeping habits in both of us. We needed to get back outside. Our cabin fever had replaced “spring fever.”
The reality is that families and individuals do not get outside for fresh air often enough, all year long. We spend time inside working, eating, sleeping, and playing. According to Prevention Magazine, kids today spend 7 hours more on academics and inside activities and 2 hours less on sports and outdoor activities per week than they did 20 years ago.
Experts say that children who spend more time outdoors in green spaces have lower stress levels, more success in school, and fewer ADHD symptoms. Also, sunlight triggers skin to make vitamin D, a potent cancer fighter. Interaction with nature reduces depression, promotes healing, sparks creativity, and even increases life expectancy–upping survival odds by about 15% over 5 years in one Japanese study.
Physically, fresh air cleans our lungs. We tend to breathe deeper when outdoors, which brings more oxygen to all the cells in our bodies. The increased oxygen brings with it increased energy and brings better clarity to the brain, which needs twenty percent of our body’s oxygen to function.
According to Natural Health Restored, some of the many human health benefits of fresh air include:
- Helps increase the rate and quality of growth in both plants and animals;
- Improves the cleansing action of your lungs;
- Helps to improve your heart rate, blood pressure, and metabolic rate;
- Helps your immune system fight off disease more effectively;
- Soothes your nerves;
- Will stimulate your appetite and will help your food to digest more effectively;
- Will help you sleep more soundly at night;
- Helps to clear your mind, improves your concentration, and helps you to think more clearly;
- Alters your brain levels of serotonin which helps to improve your mood and promote a sense of happiness and well-being;
- Helps your body get rid of accumulated impurities;
- Provides enough oxygen for cellular metabolism;
- Helps to kill bacteria and viruses in the air; and
- Strengthens your immune system by supplying it with the oxygen it needs.
Now, I’m not going to move my family to a consistently warm weather place (because we love the seasons) just to have reason to be outside more, but I have considered changes, such as instituting a rule that if it’s at least 40 degrees and sunny or partly sunny – we are outside for as much as possible. Also, I’ve researched and signed-up for outdoor programs for my family for all seasons to make going outside routine and part of the schedule of activities.
Most of all, I will remind myself of how my mind and body felt on that one warmer winter day after running around the yard and “flying” down the street pretending to be birds with my toddler: tired (but a “good-tired,”), refreshed, hungry, and hungry for more time outdoors. Thank goodness spring is here.
Information used in this article was found at the following sources, which you can visit if you want to find out more about this topic:
(http://www.healthymenumailer.com/articles/fresh-air.html, “Why is Fresh Air So Good For You?” Healthy Menu Mailer, last accessed March 6, 2011.)
(http://www.natural-health-restored.com/fresh-air.html, “Get a Breath of Fresh Air,” Natural Health Restored, last accessed March 6, 2011.)
(http://www.prevention.com/health/health/healthy-living/fresh-air-can-help-your-brain/article/3bf9b3eb1f463110VgnVCM20000012281eac____/, “The Fresh-Air Fix,” by Sarah Mahoney, Prevention Magazine, 2007, last accessed March 6, 2011.)
