Introduction
Many people claim they become happier and healthier when participating in outdoor activities (Abramovitz, 2012) (Cox, Shanahan, Hudson, Fuller, Anderson, Hancock, and Gaston, 2017). Outdoor activity can be defined as participating in any activity that is outdoors. Some examples of these activities include walking, running, sports, hiking, swimming, sightseeing, gardening, etc. Multiple studies show that the main benefits of humans experiencing nature are decreased depression, anxiety, stress, recovery time, high blood pressure, ADHD, selfishness, illness and cancer, and increased creativity, healing, test scores, cognitive ability, and motivation. All humans may benefit from participating in outdoor activities.
Today, there is an issue that fewer people are able to experience nature and partake in outdoor activities. According to Christopher Dye who is a British biologist, in 30 years, 70% of the world’s population will be living in cities (Shanahan, Lin, Bush, Gaston, Dean, Barber, & Fuller, 2015). This means they may not be involved in outdoor activities and will not experience these many free health benefits. This leads to the issue where kids spend much less time outside and more time indoors. A study from the U.S. Disease Control and Prevention in 2013 found that 75% of students have less than one hour of exercise per day (Seltenrich, 2015).
Kids spend seven more hours on academics and two fewer hours outside per week than 20 years ago (Mahoney, 2007). This is unfortunate because another study conducted by the American Psychological Association states that 90% of people felt that the combination of exercise and nature helps their mental health state (Sakrete, 2010). Nature may even be brought inside or imitated and people may receive some of the benefits this way. Even listening to nature sounds help people recover from stress quicker. Doctors are even prescribing “park prescriptions” (Shechet, n.d). Outdoor activity is an easy and affordable way to promote the healing of multiple illnesses and/or health problems.
A negative effect of social media is how it may increase depression and anxiety. This is unfortunate because 90% of 16-24-year-olds use social media. A study shows that eighth-graders who used social media for more than 10 hours a day were 56% more likely to report feeling unhappy. A teen who uses social media for more than three hours a day is 27% more at risk for depression (Hinshaw and Leventhal, n.d.). Outdoor activities reduce the amount of time spent on social media and thus reduce its negative effects. The purpose of this academic research project is to discover the physical and mental benefits that occur when a person participates in outdoor activity. This project pertains to American teens who may suffer from mental or physical health issues and would benefit these teens by informing them how to receive certain health benefits with outdoor activity.
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Many teens spend too much time on their phones. A poll by Pew Research Center shows that 95% of teens have a cell phone or can easily access a cell phone and 45% are on it constantly. The average child today spends about five hours on a screen and only eight to 10 minutes of aerobic activity. Some teens claim that social media may harm relationships. They also claim that social media can lead to peer pressure and an overall poorer mental health (Anderson and Jiang, 2018). Some other studies show cell phone usage before bed can lead to not enough sleep, poorer sleep quality, and more tiredness during the day. Another study shows that 89% of adolescents have a phone in their sleeping environment (Carter, Rees, and Hale, n.d.). Additionally, teens who spend more than three hours a day are 28% more likely to get less than 7 hours of sleep. A lack of sleep can negatively affect a teen’s mood, ability to think, ability to react, and the ability to learn. Teens who receive less than 7 hours of sleep every night are 68% more likely to have at least one risk factor for depression (Hinshaw and Leventhal, n.d.).