More Green Space Around Schools May Reduce ADHD Symptoms, Study Finds

Increasing the amount of green space around schools may lower the odds that children will exhibit attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, according to astudy published inJAMA Network Open.“Accumulating evidence indicates that living in greener areas is associated with many beneficial health outcomes,” wrote Bo-Yi Yang, Ph.D., of Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China, and colleagues. “Given that attention is a critical prerequisite for learning, greenness in school settings may be of great public health significance.”The authors conducted the population-based study between April 2012 and January 2013 in seven northeastern China cities. The analysis included 59,754 children (aged 2 to 17 years) from 94 schools, including kindergartens. Students who had lived at their current address for two years or longer were eligible for the study.Participants ’ parents and guardians completed the ADHDDSM-IVsurvey, rating the frequency that each ADHD symptom had occurred in the preceding six months on a four-point scale ranging from “never or rare” to “very often.” Children exhibiting six or more symptoms of either inattention or hyperactivity-impulsivity were defined as having ADHD symptoms.Green space around schools and kindergartens was assessed using the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and the soil-adjusted vegetation index (SAVI). Values ranged from negative one to one, with higher values indicating more green space (such as leaves ...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: ADHD attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder Bo-Yi Yang China green space JAMA Network Open Nature neurodevelopment Source Type: research