Day Care Forests – – Adirondack Almanack
Although the Brothers Grimm’s story of Hansel and Gretel surviving alone in the forest after being abandoned by their parents is based on a grim reality – the famine of 1315-1317 – there are compelling reasons to take children into the forest today. As long as they are kept out of the clutches of evil witches and brought to their homes right after. Research on the health benefits of the forest environment is so convincing that Finnish urban kindergartens “built” forests for children to use.
As part of research into childhood immune systems and general health, these ersatz forests were made by spreading topsoil over playgrounds that were either gravel or concrete. Native trees, bushes and flowers were then planted on the ground. For obvious reasons, gingerbread houses were not included in the forest fires. The idea that being immersed in nature helps us feel good is, of course, old news. Patients in rooms with tree views have shorter hospital stays and report less pain compared to those without access to natural scenery.
College students have been found to score better on cognitive tests when their windows are in nature. However, the evidence goes far beyond casual observations. Over the past two decades, real-time brain imaging with functional MRI and PET scans as well as blood cortisol levels and heart rate and blood pressure measurements have been used in numerous studies of the benefits of being close to nature. Science has proven that spending time in the woods is so beneficial that many doctors now recommend “forest bathing,” which is simply 20 minutes a day in the woods.
Forest immersion is prescribed along with medication to treat anxiety, pain, high blood pressure, depression and other conditions. Controlled studies have also revealed that after just one hour in the woods, memory performance and concentration improve by 20%. Older studies have shown improvements in the eyesight, brain development and mental health of children exposed to nature. But it seems that until a couple of years ago, no one looked closely at the effect of nature on children’s immune systems.
In a four-week study conducted by the University of Helsinki in 2020, the immune markers of 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds in ten kindergartens around Helsinki’s core were compared. Four of the ten kindergartens were greened with mini-forests, while the rest were ordinary city playgrounds, either paved or covered with gravel. After only 28 days, the intestinal and skin microbial communities of children playing in nature were more diverse than at the beginning of the project. A greater diversity of skin microbes correlates with a stronger immune system.
More specifically, and perhaps too technically, the “nature child” group had lower levels of a protein called Interleuken-17A, which is associated with autoimmune diseases. They also had increased blood T-cell counts compared to their original baseline and the group that didn’t get the chance to play in the woods and eat dirt or at least get dirt on themselves. The University of Helsinki study, which can be found in the journal Science Advances, has a statement by the authors, according to which “The results of this study support the hypothesis that low biodiversity in the modern environment can lead to an untrained immune system and thus increase the prevalence of immune-mediated diseases.” There we have it: among other benefits, the forest trains our immune system.
Although the research is definitely Finnish, it is not really finished. Scientists agree that more work is needed. They recommend a larger study (including 75 children) to confirm the findings, and also say that while they have shown that being in nature gives children healthier immune systems, they don’t yet know exactly how or why it happens. We must consider contact with nature as an integral part of our health and act accordingly.
I encourage everyone to start forest swimming as soon as possible to lower blood pressure and make the immune system smarter. And we should get Hansel, Kerttu and all the other children out into the forest more often too. Just don’t leave them there.
Paul Hetzler is relieved to have another excuse for a dirty house. He thanks Laurent Dubois for suggesting this topic.
Image above: Scenes from an early morning ride on Goldsmith Road in the Northern Adirondacks in 2020. Photo by Mike Lynch, Adirondack Explorer editor.