The benefits of friluftsliv ("open air life")

According to a wealth of studies, spending time outdoors has lots of health benefits:

• lower stress;
• decreased blood pressure;
• reduced risk of asthma, allergies, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease;
• improved mental health;
• increased life expectancy.

The trick was to figure out how much outdoors time is required to reap these benefits. A study that examined about 20,000 people in Britain (2014 to 2016) found that those who spent about two hours a week outdoors had better health and sense of well being than people who didn’t get out much. 

Interestingly, the findings showed that less than two hours per week (60 to 90 minutes) wasn’t enough, and more than two hours (five hours) didn’t offer additional health benefits. It’s also interesting to note that, in the study, the two-hour threshold was the same for all types of people: men and women, older and younger, different ethnic groups, rich and poor. Researchers haven’t figured out the exact causes of the benefits.

Apparently, more and more doctors are prescribing time outdoors to their patients. In Sweden, people are serious about friluftsliv, a Norwegian term that means “open air life.” In fact, firms even get tax breaks for providing the infrastructure and incentives that encourage their employees to enjoy friluftsliv. In South Korea, the government is establishing dozens of “healing forests” for its citizens.

I spend about twelve hours a week out of doors: about four of those are gardening and the rest are golfing. I just hope the stress of hitting bad shots doesn’t offset the benefits of being in the open air.

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