The Effect of Physical Activity Interventions Carried Out in Outdoor Natural Blue and Green Spaces on Health Outcomes: A Systematic Review

Sofia Marini, Mario Mauro, Alessia Grigoletto (), Stefania Toselli and Pasqualino Maietta Latessa
Additional contact information
Sofia Marini: Department for Life Quality Studies, University of Bologna, 47921 Rimini, Italy
Mario Mauro: Department for Life Quality Studies, University of Bologna, 47921 Rimini, Italy
Alessia Grigoletto: Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy
Stefania Toselli: Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy
Pasqualino Maietta Latessa: Department for Life Quality Studies, University of Bologna, 47921 Rimini, Italy

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 19, 1-15

Abstract: In the last few years, interest about the natural environment and its influences on health conditions has been growing. In particular, physical activity interventions carried out in blue and green environment are being investigated as a potential strategy to increase health outcomes in people with and without chronic conditions. Many recent studies reported positive results, but a high number of these studies were focused on people with mental or physical disorders. In this scenario, the present systematic review, conducted according to the PRISMA statement, was aimed at investigating the existing evidence regarding the effects of physical activity interventions carried out in green–blue space settings involving healthy people. A literature search was performed through PubMed, Cochrane, Cinahl, and Psychinfo, and the quality of each study was assessed. Out of 239 identified articles, 75 full texts were screened. Six eligible studies showed an improvement in health outcomes, such as well-being, mood, and physical performance, in the experimental group compared with the control group. No exhaustive conclusion can be drawn based on available evidence. However, this systematic review highlighted the need to extend this kind of intervention to reveal more robust evidence that green and blue exercises benefit health.

Keywords: blue exercise; green exercise; healthy adults; blue–green space setting; natural outdoor environment; physical activity intervention; outdoor exercise; health promotion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/19/12482/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/19/12482/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:19:p:12482-:d:930033

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().