The Effects of a Campus Forest-Walking Program on Undergraduate and Graduate Students’ Physical and Psychological Health

Kyung-Sook Bang, Insook Lee, Sungjae Kim, Chun Soo Lim, Hee-Kyung Joh, Bum-Jin Park and Min Kyung Song
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Kyung-Sook Bang: College of Nursing, The Research Institute of Nursing Science, Seoul National University, Seoul 03080, Korea
Insook Lee: College of Nursing, The Research Institute of Nursing Science, Seoul National University, Seoul 03080, Korea
Sungjae Kim: College of Nursing, The Research Institute of Nursing Science, Seoul National University, Seoul 03080, Korea
Chun Soo Lim: Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul 03080, Korea
Hee-Kyung Joh: Department of Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul 03080, Korea
Bum-Jin Park: Department of Environment and Forest Resources, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Korea
Min Kyung Song: College of Nursing, Seoul National University, Seoul 03080, Korea

IJERPH, 2017, vol. 14, issue 7, 1-13

Abstract: We conducted a campus forest-walking program targeting university and graduate students during their lunchtime and examined the physical and psychological effects of the program. We utilized a quasi-experimental design with a control group and a pretest–posttest design. Forty-seven men (M = 25.5 ± 3.8 years) and 52 women (M = 23.3 ± 4.3 years) volunteered to participate (experimental group n = 51, control group n = 48). The intervention group participated in campus forest-walking program once a week for six weeks; they were also asked to walk once a week additionally on an individual basis. Additionally, participants received one lecture on stress management. Post-tests were conducted both just after the program ended and three months after. A chi-square test, t -test, and repeated measures analysis of variance were used to evaluate the effects of the program. Health promoting behaviors ( F = 7.27, p = 0.001, ES = 0.27) and parasympathetic nerve activity ( F = 3.69, p = 0.027, ES = 0.20) significantly increased and depression ( F = 3.15, p = 0.045, ES = 0.18) significantly decreased in the experimental group after the intervention compared to the control group. In conclusion, using the campus walking program to target students during their lunchtime is an efficient strategy to promote their physical and psychological health.

Keywords: forests; walking; health promotion; body composition; depression; college students (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

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