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Parkland and greenspace play a prominent role
in the health of a community for two basic reasons:
-
These
spaces provide a place to rejuvenate and maintain
the health of the body and the mind while having
fun and finding inspiration.
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The
protection of vegetation and terrain helps keep
our air and water clean and can lower the severity
of dangerous floods. For information on how natural
areas can improve public health go to our Environment
button.
Body
Our
nation is growing increasingly fatter and less fit and
is now in worse shape than any other time in American
history. A report in the Journal of the American
Medical Association (March 10, 2004) attributes
400,000 deaths annually to physical inactivity and poor
diet.
The
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health
Promotion has stated that …the accessibility
and location of parks, trails, sidewalks and recreation
centers may play and even great role in promoting or
discouraging an individual or family's level of physical
activity ”than social environments. Americans
could save this country up to 75 billion dollars a year
if we were to become sufficiently active.
There
is ample research about physical fitness, or lack of
it, among our citizenry nationally (64.5% of adults
are over weight) and in Texas. San Antonio ranked
number four as the nations fattest city right behind
Houston and Dallas in 2004 and nearly half of 4th grade
students in Texas are overweight. Scary, because
more and more evidence demonstrates what we all suspected:
we are much more likely to be sick and to die prematurely
if we do not get enough exercise. Sierra
Club Article - CDC
research - Healthier
US
There
are many ways to get the body moving but without a doubt
the most popular is walking and one of the most popular
places to walk is on trails in parks and greenways.
The degree to which city people walk or ride bicycles
for their daily transportation needs depends largely
on how much green space there is.
Center
for Advancement of Health
 For
many the biggest advantage of conserving open land is
the recreation potential - health and fun.
The good folks in San Marcos have a wide range of activities
they enjoy in our greenspaces. The Greenbelt Alliance
conducts walks in our undeveloped natural areas and
makes presentations to groups. We occasionally
brainstorm with participants to come up with a list
of all the recreational activities that could take place
in natural areas, here is a partial list:
Bike, bird-watching, relieve stress, breath clean air,
climb trees, climb cliffs, field studies, interact with
land, relief from city, play with dog, swim, discover
habitat, read, pray, extreme croquet, appreciate
nature, fish, mountain board, star gaze, camp, fly
kites, extreme ironing , picnic, hunt, photography, hike,
running, wheelchair races, orienteering, geo-caching,
nature interpretation, education, xeriscape demonstration,
walk dogs, howl at the moon, hike with boy or girl scout
troop, scouting activities, cross country running, cataloging,
etc.
Mind
Another
component of healthy living is care for mind and soul.
These are complicated and personal matters for each
individual. Most people find that their mind and soul
are healthier and happier when they spend time on a
regular basis in natural areas. Using our senses
to appreciate the miracle of our creation is curative
and inspirational. Laureates, clerics and physicians
have known this for centuries. (Reference: cannon
of literature over the last few millennia. Search “Nature
in Literature)
Researches
have found that having a close connection to the natural
world may be an innate need that must be met if we are
to avoid a deprived and diminished existence.
The natural world also helps patients recover. Healing
after illness or injury, mental health and spiritual
health are benefited by having access to recreation
and greenspace.
Research
bibliography
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