News: Where do the healthiest people live?

If you want an excuse to move out of the smoggy city and closer to the coast for some fresh sea air, there’s a study for you (and me).

The study, published by the European Centre for Environment & Human Health, shows that the closer people live to the sea, the more likely they are to report being in good health.

“We know that people usually have a good time when they go to the beach, but there is strikingly little evidence of how spending time at the coast can affect health and wellbeing,’ Dr. Ben Wheeler, the lead author of the study, said. ‘By analyzing data for the whole population, our research suggests that there is a positive effect.’

Besides being beautiful, the coast provides ‘opportunities for stress reduction and increased physical activity,’ the study’s authors wrote.

I have to agree with Dr. Wheeler: I do, indeed, have a good time when I go to the beach. I also find that spending time near (or in) the ocean has a calming effect’but I’m usually always on vacation when I get an opportunity to do that. It would be a big change to move from my busy Toronto street to the coast, but because of this study, I might just have to. Health is my number one priority, after all.

What do you think? Would you like to live by the sea? Do you feel healthier when you’re by the coast?

-Katharine Watts, Associate Web Editor

Related:
‘ How nature can make you healthier
‘ What is nature deficit disorder?
‘ Vancouver: 6 great workouts in the great outdoors