A new study has revealed that those who engage in gardening face fewer sleep problems.
Published in 'Journal of Affective Disorders,' the study highlights how gardening leads to fewer instances of insomnia, daytime sleepiness, and sleep apnoea.
Therefore, this study aimed to explore whether gardening was associated with sleep complaints,” he added.
ResultsIt was revealed that those who engaged in exercises and gardening showed a lower likelihood of experiencing multiple sleep complaints compared to non-exercisers.
“The findings encourage the adults to participate in gardening activity, such as watering the field and growing vegetables,” he added.
A new study has revealed that those who engage in gardening face fewer sleep problems. Published in 'Journal of Affective Disorders,' the study highlights how gardening leads to fewer instances of insomnia, daytime sleepiness, and sleep apnoea.
Previous studies have shown how a variety of factors, including heart diseases and neurodegenerative disorders, lead to poor sleep. So, researchers turned their attention towards potential solutions, including gardening.
“According to the Physical Activity Guideline for Americans (2nd edition), gardening is a muscle-strengthening and multicomponent physical activity with one of the lowest injury risks, which is appropriate and recommended for older adults,” said study author Xiang Gao, a dean and distinguished professor at Fudan University.
“The benefits of gardening for physical and psychological health was well-established. However, the gardening-sleep association among the community population remained unrevealed. Therefore, this study aimed to explore whether gardening was associated with sleep complaints,” he added.
To conduct the study, researchers analysed the data of 62,098 adults from 10 different US states. A survey was conducted, in which questions were asked on health behaviours, chronic diseases, and preventive measures, with specific modules on physical activity and sleep complaints examined for this study.
The participants were classified into different groups based on their physical activities, such as non-exercisers, gardeners, and other exercisers.
Results
It was revealed that those who engaged in exercises and gardening showed a lower likelihood of experiencing multiple sleep complaints compared to non-exercisers.
Those who engaged in gardening were 42 per cent less likely to experience sleep problems. Meanwhile, those who did other exercises were 33 per cent less likely to face insomnia.
“As a valuable non-pharmaceutical intervention and an aerobic physical activity, gardening could be more strongly recommended for adults to minimise their likelihood of sleep complaints,” Gao was quoted as saying by PsyPost.
“The findings encourage the adults to participate in gardening activity, such as watering the field and growing vegetables,” he added.
