Research paperWalking, hiking and running in parks: A multidisciplinary assessment of health and well-being benefits
Introduction
Public green spaces provide a significant opportunity for people to escape from their regular lives, daily routines, and stressful environments to re-energise and engage in outdoor activities (Bedimo-Rung et al., 2005, Pryor et al., 2005). This is ever more important as a sedentary and indoor-centred lifestyle has become increasingly prevalent in the 21st century, leading towards the “nature-deficit disorder” of human beings (Louv, 2011). The importance of public green spaces for people's health and well-being was noted early in the 19th century when parks were first designed for recreational purposes, and landscape architects recognised the connection between natural areas and human health and well-being (Beveridge & Rocheleau, 1995). Experiencing recreational parks was thought to reduce stress levels and to provide the opportunity to socialise, perform physical exercise, and breathe fresh air. These days, in densely populated urban and peri-urban areas, public green spaces often provide the only natural outdoor recreation space fulfilling an important function in promoting the general health of community members (Maas, Verheij, Groenewegen, De Vries, & Spreeuwenberg, 2006).
Health and well-being benefits can accrue in a number of ways when visiting public green spaces. The simple act of occupying or viewing nature may be beneficial, and assist in the maintenance of health (Pretty, Peacock, Sellens, & Griffin, 2005). These restorative effects of nature were ascribed to people's innate relationship with and need for nature known as “biophilia” (Nisbet, Zelenski, & Murphy, 2011). As well, physical activities in public green spaces can contribute considerably to health and well-being. The closer people live to a public park, for example, the more frequently they engage in the minimum recommended physical activity, and the less likely they are to be overweight (e.g., Coombes, Jones, & Hillsdon, 2010). Whilst public green spaces may provide a suitable location for physical activities, the incidental exposure to nature whilst performing these activities can have a synergistic effect (Hansmann, Hug, & Seeland, 2007). Pretty et al. (2005), for example, found that “green exercise” was more effective in improving cardiovascular and mental health than exercise in a non-natural environment. Conversely, spending time in nature increases incidental forms of physical activity whilst sightseeing or viewing flora and fauna (Buchner & Gobster, 2007), and such experiences can provide the initial incentive to visit parks (Maas & Verheij, 2007). Integrating incidental physical activity into daily life is a useful intervention against a sedentary lifestyle (Sallis et al., 1998, Ziviani et al., 2006). This has typically been studied and promoted in contexts such as the commute to work or outdoor activities like gardening but deserves more attention in a parks’ context.
Most research on parks and trails to date has instead investigated whether access and specific facilities are associated with physical activity. In contrast, few studies have focussed on the effects of physical activities in national parks on specific health parameters. This is surprising in that health parameters would be useful measurements, because they capture objective rather than stated or perceived effects. Li et al. (2011) for example demonstrated that a forest visit significantly reduced blood pressure and had beneficial effects on several metabolic parameters. Another study conducted in Japan demonstrated the positive effects of “forest bathing” on different physiological parameters (Park, Tsunetsugu, Kasetani, Kagawa, & Miyazaki, 2010). However, such physiological measures are difficult to obtain, and research typically relies on a pre-recruited sample of participants. In our study, we assessed both health and well-being outcomes, and evaluated a new approach to estimating energy expenditure during physical activity that allowed for sampling of a cross-section of visitors randomly intercepted along trails. Energy expenditure is a useful parameter as it captures the intensity of physical activity and is linked directly to numerous health outcomes (Hansmann et al., 2007).
Various ways have been recognised to measure energy expenditure due to physical activity, some restricted to laboratory environments, and others suitable for the field. Indirect calorimetry for example measures the heat released by oxidative processes of the body in respiration chambers or with portable devices and masks (Jequier, Acheson, & Schutz, 1987). Another form of indirect calorimetry involves measuring the amount of isotope in a free-living person's body fluids following the consumption of doubly-labelled water to determine CO2 and consequently heat production (Schoeller, 1988). As there is a close relationship between heart rate and energy expenditure during exercise, heart rate measures allow an estimate of energy expenditure using portable armband devices (St-Onge, Mignault, Allison, & Rabasa-Lhoret, 2007) or “smart t-shirts” (Taczanowska et al., 2012). Other portable devices pick up people's movement or acceleration such as pedometers and accelerometers (Swartz et al., 2000). Whilst pedometers are more useful to determine overall walking activity, accelerometers provide meaningful measurements of energy expenditure (Ainslie, Reilly, & Westerterp, 2003). Finally, questionnaires and activity recall methods are available and appear especially valuable in large population-based studies (Ainslie et al., 2003). Participants in our study were tracked with GPS wristwatches whilst frequenting national park trails to collect trip data in substantially more detail than possible with questionnaires or activity recall. We expected that this non-obtrusive method would result in high participation rates. Trip data and additional participant data collected via questionnaires were integrated into two different methods for estimating energy expenditure: (1) “Metabolic Equivalent of Tasks” (MET) (Ainsworth et al., 2011), and (2) “Functions of energy costs for walking and running” (Ardigò, Saibene, & Minetti, 2003).
Although trails are known to be key facilities for physical activities in parks, there is minimal research describing trail use, amounts and intensity of activity, and motives for using trails (Kaczynski, Potwarka, & Saelens, 2008). In the present study, we focussed on visitors frequenting national park trails for walking, hiking, and running in New South Wales, Australia. The aims of this study were to determine the health and well-being benefits accruing to people from walking, hiking, and running along national park trails and to compare these against the invested effort. We incorporated gender and age-group into the analysis to discern the effect of participant demographics. A particular focus was on the discussion of the importance of incidental physical activity of visitors who come to parks for many reasons other or in addition to exercise. We collected data on socio-demographics, motivations and extent to which people engage in walking, hiking, or running in national parks to characterise the market. Finally, we discuss the methodological implications of using GPS tracking data for conversion into energy expenditure of park visitor activities using the two different methods for estimation.
Section snippets
Study area and trails
This study was conducted in the Blue Mountains National Park (BMNP) and Royal National Park (RNP) (Fig. 1). With 3.1 and 4.1 million domestic visits, respectively, BMNP and RNP were the two most visited national parks in New South Wales in 2012 (Roy Morgan Research, 2013). BMNP is part of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that covers 1.03 million ha of land, which is known for its great biodiversity and important Aboriginal cultural sites. RNP was
Survey data
Questionnaire responses were analysed with IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows 19.0. Cronbach's alpha coefficients were calculated to examine the internal consistency of the rating scale items addressing general physical condition of participants, improvements in health and well-being, and perceived effort. The scale data were accepted for analysis because in all cases Cronbach's alpha exceeded the generally recommended lower limit of 0.70 (Kline, 1999). To align with the other items in a group and
Sample characteristics and profiles of activity groups
We sampled 371 park visitors (80% participation rate) > 18 years of age in BMNP and RNP throughout the day although 83.3% commenced their walk before 2 pm. The majority (86.5%) of participants were sampled during sunny weather conditions, with temperatures averaging <15 °C (68%) or between 15 °C and 30 °C (32%).
Our sample included 72.2% walkers, 18.6% hikers/bushwalkers, and 9.2% runners. Walkers visited primarily with partners or as parents with children, whilst hikers visited primarily with
Importance of national parks for visitors’ health and well-being
In the present study, we investigated the benefits of walking, hiking, and running in public green spaces, specifically national parks. Our findings indicate that these activities appeal to a broad market spanning different age and travel groups and both genders in urban and peri-urban communities, reflecting their popularity in Australia and worldwide. People visited national parks frequently to engage in these activities, and runners, in particular, did so each week, preferably on the same
Conclusions
This study revealed considerable benefits of activities in public green spaces for people's physical health and overall well-being. We demonstrated the importance of targeted exercise as well as incidental physical activities in parks. Outdoor activities such as walking and hiking are often considered more of an experience than a physical activity (Ipsos-Eureka Social Research Institute, 2009). This form of recreation typically requires planning, e.g., selecting a location prior to the park
Acknowledgements
The research was funded by the Tourism and Partnerships Branch of the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, Office of Environment and Heritage. We acknowledge three anonymous reviewers and E. Milner for providing highly insightful comments on a previous version of this manuscript. We thank G. Hagenloh for his assistance with the field work. The authors thank NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service staff, especially T. Lanyon, Office of Environment and Heritage, for valuable input into the
Isabelle D. Wolf, Research and Analysis Officer at the Office of Environment and Heritage, Australia, is responsible for all aspects of park visitor research and monitoring, including visitor experience development and management. She is leading numerous GIS-related visitor monitoring projects and New South Wales state-wide visitor research. In this role she capitalises on her expertise in both the social and ecological sciences. As an ecologist her speciality is the interface between people
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Isabelle D. Wolf, Research and Analysis Officer at the Office of Environment and Heritage, Australia, is responsible for all aspects of park visitor research and monitoring, including visitor experience development and management. She is leading numerous GIS-related visitor monitoring projects and New South Wales state-wide visitor research. In this role she capitalises on her expertise in both the social and ecological sciences. As an ecologist her speciality is the interface between people and their environment with recent work on animal behaviour and flora and fauna communities in fragmented and disturbed habitats. Isabelle has completed a Ph.D. at the University of New South Wales, where she is an Adjunct Associate Lecturer in the Centre of Ecosystem Science, and published in both social and environmental science journals.
Teresa Wohlfart holds a B.Sc. in Agricultural Sciences and M.Sc. in Environmental Sciences and Resources Management from Justus-Liebig University of Giessen, Germany. She is currently collaborating with the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage on applied park visitor research in Sydney, Australia. Her expertise extends to innovative visitor monitoring techniques including GPS tracking and GIS. Teresa has a strong interest in communicating sustainability and conservation values through research outcomes.
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