공원이나 숲 등 녹색공간 인근에 거주하면 전체적인 건강 증진 효과가 나타나며, 특히 경제적 부유층과 빈곤층 간의 건강 차이가 좁아진다는 연구 결과가 나왔다.

영국 글래스고대학 연구팀은 "자연친화적인 환경에서 사는 사람이 더 건강하리라는 것은 당연하게 여겨지지만, 이처럼 확연하게 차이가 날 것이라고는 예상하지 못했다"고 설명했다.

연구팀은 영국을 초지 분포에 따라 5개 지역으로 나누고 각 지역의 부유층과 빈곤층의 사망률과 건강 상태를 조사했다.

그 결과, 녹지가 많은 지역에서는 전체적으로 건강한 인구의 비율이 높았으며, 부유층과 빈곤층 간의 차이가 비녹지 지역에 비해 절반 수준에 그치는 것으로 나타났다.

연구팀은 공원과 같은 공간이 스트레스를 해소하도록 도와주고 육체적 활동을 용이하게 만든다는 사실을 이같은 차이의 원인으로 해석했다. 이 덕분에 녹지 지역 거주민들은 심장병 위험이 낮은 것으로 나타났다.

연구팀은 "정부는 국민건강을 위해 녹지를 조성하고 야외활동을 위한 시설 마련에 보다 많은 투자를 할 필요가 있다"고 지적했다.


Parks can cut health gap between rich and poor
By Reuters - Fri Nov 7, 2:03 AM PST

LONDON (Reuters) - Parks, playing fields and forests greatly narrow health gaps between the rich and poor, and governments should do more to promote and invest in green areas, researchers said on Friday.

Earlier studies have linked living near green space to improved health but the findings in the journal Lancet show some of the impacts are bigger than thought, said Richard Mitchell, an epidemiologist who led the study.

"The size of the difference in the health gap is surprising and represented a much bigger effect than I had been expecting," Mitchell, a researcher at the University of Glasgow, said in a telephone interview.

"So the key message is green spaces are another tool for governments to combat this health gap between rich and poor."

Promoting outdoor recreation and boosting health can in the long run save on health care spending, he added.

Parkland and open space make a difference, Mitchell said, by helping people get rid of stress and allowing more physical activity -- both of which reduce risk of heart disease.

"This is the first time we have demonstrated that aspects of the physical environment can have an impact in such a good way," he said. "It is a combination of exercise and restoration."

Mitchell and colleagues looked at the health impact of parks, playing fields and forests by dividing England into five sectors based on the amount of adjacent green areas and then comparing death rates between rich and poor.

In the greenest areas, the health gap between the richest and poorest people as measured by death rates was about half as big as that in the least green areas.

(Reporting by Michael Kahn, Editing by Maggie Fox and Dominic Evans)