Green spaces 'reduce health gap'

Researchers Dr Richard Mitchell from Glasgow University and Dr Frank Popham, from the University of St Andrews, said that other studies had suggested that contact with green spaces also helped reduce blood pressure and stress levels, perhaps even promoting faster healing after surgery.

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Even small parks in the heart of our cities can protect us from strokes and heart disease, perhaps by cutting stress or boosting exercise. Their study, in The Lancet, matched data about hundreds of thousands of deaths to green spaces in local areas. Cities should introduce more greenery to improve wellbeing, they said. Across the country, there are ?EUR??,,????'?????<

This means that in general, people living in poorer areas are more likely to be unhealthy, and die earlier. However, the researchers found that living near parks, woodland or other open spaces helped reduce these inequalities, regardless of social class.