Benefits of Greenspace for Neurodevelopmental Outcomes

The rapid urbanization in recent decades has resulted in an increase in the number of children who are born and raised in urban areas. Urbanization is linked to a stressful and sedentary lifestyle, increased exposure to such environmental hazards, and limited access to natural environments, particularly greenspace. Living and rising in urban areas with less access to natural environments has prompted researchers to explore the relationship between exposure to greenspace and health outcomes, including developmental outcomes. Evidence suggests a positive role of greenspace exposure in better developmental outcomes across different domains. Additionally, evidence is accumulating on the role of greenspace in reducing the prevalence and severity of behavioral outcomes, attention deficiency, hyperactivity disorder, and autism spectrum disorder. However, the observed associations are, in some cases, not conclusive and need further studies. Moreover, the role of variables such as gender, socioeconomic status, and contextual factors in the observed associations should be explored in more detail. In terms of mechanistical pathways, several functions of greenspace—including attention restoration, mental health benefits, pollution mitigation, enriching gut microbiota, and improving prenatal mental health—could be hypothesized. Future studies need to explore the mechanistic pathways, for example, through formal mediation analyses or the use of different exposure metrics. Overall, the observed positive associations highlight the importance of community-level interventions leading to improvements in nature contact, especially for children in the rapidly urbanizing world.