13.10: Example Research Paper

The following is a sample research paper written by a Butler EG 101 student. Please note that this paper is mostly in MLA excepting a few things: it does not have page numbers or a header with a last name and the font is 11.5 instead of 12.

Hailey Stolz

Professor. McCaffree

Research Paper

4 May 2018

Health Benefits of Time Spent Outdoors

In today’s world, people spend almost all their time indoors. In the article “How Our Buildings Are Making Us Sick”, Amy Westervelt writes, “As a culture, Americans spend 90 percent of our time indoors”. Many scientists and researchers believe that the time people spend indoors and the increase in illnesses and health problems could quite possibly be related. Time spent in the great outdoors can help both mental and physical health problems like stress, anxiety, depression, lack of vitamin D, concentration problems, Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder, and obesity along with a great many other things. People can be helped in almost all manners by being outside (Kasland). There is almost nothing that some time spent in the great outdoors will not benefit in one way or another. Simply sitting outside for a few minutes each day can help a person’s health substantially. Most people know that being outside is good for them yet not many people do anything about it. Humans were created to be outdoors, so it is only natural that people should thrive when they are outside.

Being out in nature has a way of calming a person down and allowing them to enjoy the moment. When people are stressed or experiencing anxiety, spending a little bit of time outside can sometimes be the best thing for them. “Stress hormones”along with many different “stress” symptoms are known to decrease after relaxing or wandering around the woods (Selhub 51). When a person goes outside, the fresh air and of the natural surroundings can give them a sense of calm and wellbeing. People’s surroundings are often a high contributor to their anxiety and stress levels, so when a person is in the peaceful surroundings of a countryside or wandering through the trees it is often easier for them to calm down and destress than when they are indoors and surrounded by the busy city. People do not have to spend a whole lot of time outside for it to make a difference in their health. Spending even just a quarter of an hour outside or in the forest can reduce “anxiety” in an unmistakable way (Rones 25). The peaceful surroundings are not the only part of nature that will help a person relax, literally being away from the demands of daily life also helps. People often go on social media to escape from the things around them but that can cause them to become more stressed or anxious because then they get concerned about everyone else’s problems in addition to their own. Therefore, going outside in the fresh air and peaceful surroundings and actually getting away from things for a while is a much better option and proves to be far more effective.

In addition to helping with stress and anxiety, time spent outdoors can also help ease depression and seasonal affective disorder. When a person with seasonal affective disorder is outdoors, the vitamin D from the sunshine will actually help to better their mood and lessen the depressive symptoms. When they are outside, the sunshine cues the brain on the time of day even though they may not realize it. These ques will cause the brain to increase the production of melatonin in the evening which will then help the person sleep better at night as well. Researchers say that this is even more effective when people spend time outside in the mornings. The sets of people most in danger of “vitamin D deficiency” are, fascinatingly, identical to the sets of people most at danger of “depression” (Penckofer et al.). Vitamin D deficiency often plays a big role in depression; therefore, when a person suffering from depression spends time outside, especially on a sunny day, the vitamin D from the sunlight can help them to cheer up and ease their depression. In the article “Vitamin D and Depression: Where Is All the Sunshine?” Penckofer et al. states that more than “90%” of the “vitamin D” that a person’s body needs is attained by being outside in the sunshine. Since so much of the vitamin D people need comes from the sun, it only makes sense that going outdoors and into the sun should help with illnesses caused partly from lack of vitamin D.

Spending time outdoors can also help with some things that people would not necessarily associate with being outside. Some examples of these things are the effects it has on people’s concentration, focus, and their ability to think clearly; especially people who suffer from Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD). “ADHD” kids have an easier time “focusing” and “concentrating” when they spend time outside in a relaxed, open area (Dineen). Not very much is yet known on how being outside eases the symptoms of ADHD, but scientists and researchers do know that it will help. In 2004, Frances E. Kuo and Andrea Farber Taylor performed a study to see whether time spent outdoors is an effective way to help people, specifically children, with ADHD (“Children with…”). In this study they had the parents of 406 children with ADHD report to them how the children acted after taking part in different pastimes. Some of these took place indoors, some outside in places without much nature, and others in places with lots of nature and greenery. The results showed that the symptoms of ADHD decreased while the children were in the natural areas outside (“Children with…”). This study shows that people who have ADHD can really benefit from spending time outside. Being outdoors does not just help people with ADHD focus, it can help most people to concentrate. Teachers and other people who work with students have realized that students do better on tests and other school work if they do it right after spending some time outside. Therefore, it is beneficial for any person, especially students, to spend some time outside before or during time that they know they need to concentrate and focus.

Not only does being outdoors help with all these mental health issues, but it can also benefit people’s physical health. More and more people in today’s culture are struggling with obesity. With the conveniences of current society, people do not move around quite as much as they used to. Going outside is a good way to get people up and moving around. People are oftentimes more likely to exercise when they go outdoors to do it. “There is even some evidence to suggest that exercise may feel easier when performed in the natural environment” (Gladwell et al.). Typically it is easier for people to do things they enjoy; people enjoy exercising outside more because there is fresh air and a change of scenery as they exercise. When people exercise outside they often burn more calories and strengthen different muscles and bones. When they are taking a walk outside for example, the rough ground will cause their ankles to be more adaptable and over time will cause the muscles to become stronger. If walking outside, going up and down hills and incurring wind resistance will use different muscles than walking on a treadmill. When people walk outside they often walk faster because they do not actually know how fast they are going and they set their own pace. Even though they are often faster they do not run out of energy nearly as quickly as they would if they were exercising indoors. When they are exercising outside, the sunlight that is absorbed by a person’s body causes them to produce more vitamin D which will help to strengthen their bones. Not only will it strengthen their bones, but the vitamin D will also produce melatonin which will then help them sleep better at night and be better rested. When a person is well rested their body will not try as hard to preserve calories to save energy so they will actually burn more calories when they exercise. All around exercising outside can help tremendously in many different ways.

All in all, there are many different reasons that being outdoors will help a person’s health. Spending time outside can help with many more things in addition to the things already discussed. Additional benefits include lower blood pressure, improved cognitive abilities, faster healing, better eye health, and more. Very few areas do not benefit from spending time outdoors. It is important to know about all the different things that being outside in the fresh air and sunshine will help. If a person was struggling with stress or anxiety they would probably really appreciate knowing that spending a little time outside would help them to feel a little better. Think about if an overweight person is trying to lose a little weight, and how they would probably like to know that it could be easier if they do some of their exercises outside. There are many more examples of people who could be helped by spending just a little more time outside. If people really understood what all can change if they spend more time outdoors in the sunlight, people would probably spend a considerably more time in the great outdoors.

Works Cited

"Children with ADHD Benefit from Time Outdoors Enjoying Nature." Obesity, Fitness & Wellness Week, 25 Sept. 2004, p. 92. Academic OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A...E&xid=29b7f949. Accessed 30 Apr. 2018.

Dineen, Maddie. "Nature's Ability to Foster Growth." Parks & Recreation, vol. 52, no. 7, 07, 2017, pp. 30- 31. ProQuest, http://butlerlib.butlercc.edu/login?...ccountid=40640

Gladwell, Valerie F, et al. “The Great Outdoors: How a Green Exercise Environment Can Benefit All.” Extreme Physiology & Medicine, BioMed Central, 3 Jan. 2013, extremephysiolmed.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/2046-7648-2-3.

Kasland, Karen. "Green Time: Unplug and Unwind Outdoors." Current Health 2, a Weekly Reader publication, Sept. 2007, p. 8+. Opposing Viewpoints In Context, http://link.galegroup.com.butlerlib....klnb_bucc&sid= OVIC&xid=033f1958. Accessed 26 Apr. 2018.

Penckofer, Sue et al. “Vitamin D and Depression: Where Is All the Sunshine?” Issues in Mental Health Nursing 31 June 2010, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2908269/. Accessed 28 Apr. 2018.

Rones, Nancy. "Into the WOODS." Yoga Journal, no. 276, Sept. 2015, pp. 25-27. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cmh&AN=108672933&site=ehpl-live.

Selhub, Eve. "Nature and the Brain." Alive: Canada's Natural Health & Wellness Magazine, no. 355, May 2012, pp. 49-51. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cmh&AN=75124234&site=ehpl-live.

Westervelt, Amy. “How Our Buildings Are Making Us Sick.” Forbes. 8 Aug. 2012, http://www.forbes.com/sites/amyweste.../#5072655775b1. Accessed 26 April 2018.