Trees Are Good For Your Health

Yes trees. And other greenery, too. Researchers at Harvard’s Chan School of Public Health and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital have found that during an eight-year study period, there were fewer deaths among women who lived in the greenest surroundings. In fact. their mortality rate was 12 percent lower than those living in homes in the least green areas. A Chan School news release reports that the researchers studied data on 108,630 women enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study in 2000-2008, comparing the participants’ rate of mortality with the level of vegetation surrounding their homes, which was calculated using satellite imagery from different seasons and from different years. And yes, the researchers accounted for other mortality risk factors, such as age, socioeconomic status, race and ethnicity, and smoking behaviors. The researchers found that associations between higher amounts of greenness and lower mortality rates were strongest for respiratory-disease and cancer mortality. Women living in areas with the most vegetation had a 34 percent lower rate of respiratory disease-related mortality and a 13 percent lower rate of cancer mortality compared with those with the least vegetation around their homes.

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