What a top bloke

Some top doctor has gone on record saying that there should be more open green space (ie gardens) for the sake of everyone's health, but also to reduce costs for the NHS.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-26871970

Its a good article, worth a read.

 

Totally agree, but todays kids are lazy and hooked on computer games hence the obesity problem.

Val

 

Maybe.

Except, obesity is a problem for all age ranges and has far more to do with the high fat, high sugar, high salt products stacked wide and high in the shops that are being consumed. And that is before you consider how portion sizes have altered down the decades (read some older cookery books and compare the quantities in like recipes of today and you will see what I mean). And that is also before you consider that it is far cheaper to buy those trashier products than it is to buy enough fresh fruit and vegetables to satisfy the 5 a-day (now 7-10 a-day) daily recommended amounts!

Haven't read the article yet, but I'm going to have a guess that it is the manual work (exercise) which is being promoted and a by-product of gardening (and the space to do it in) often results in people having a bash at growing their own herbs, fruit, veggies?

 

Aha! I'll retract my last paragraph in the above ... read it now and I mistook the work "garden" to mean back gardens .

Mind you, my uni campus has lots of fabulous green space and I often thought about the trees and the shrubs planted there ... and wondered why they hadn't inter-planted a few fruit trees and bushes instead.

One year, a neighbouring council planted up the city flower boxes with hanging tomatoes - which I thought was a wonderful idea! (And yes, they did survive the local foragers )

 

When I was a part time student, much of the group study time happened in one of the local parks, weather permitting of course. The brain functions better in fresh air and relaxed surroundings. Wiser folks than I have known that for millennia. Old Siddharta become the Buddha (the enlightened/awakened one) while resting under a tree in a park. Isaac Newton figured out gravity while chilling out under a tree. Ok, that's two examples in about 6000 years, not many, but still...

 

... there's hope for me yet then!