Even before Smart Phones and Tablets, the average American spent more than 90% of their time indoors.
The shaded lifestyle of the indoor life is alien to the environment in which the body evolved and there's a growing amount of evidence that spending too much time indoors is detrimental to our health.
Two health problems possibly made worse by our indoor lifestyles include myopia and various allergies.
In the city-state of Singapore, where children spend a lot of time indoors because there are no gardens for them to play in, myopia affects 85% of young people compared to just 25% of the older generation.
This increase in myopia is not hereditary, and neither is it caused by spending too much time reading or staring at screens, it's much more fundamental: the human eye needs exposure to good quality light in order to fully develop, and most children in Singapore simply aren't getting sufficient exposure!
Our increasingly indoor-lifestyle also means that many of us are not getting sufficient vitamin D, and research shows that vitamin D deficiency is increasingly linked with the prevalence of allergies. With every generation since the 19th century, the number of children with allergies has seemingly increased exponentially.
For example, research from Australia suggests that vitamin D deficiency is linked to an elevenfold increase in the likelihood of peanut allergy and a tripling of the prevalence of egg allergy.
Perhaps we need to start planning our cities so they provide adequate sunlight as well as shelter?
**Sources **
The Guardian (May 2019) - Vybarr Cregan-Reid - For the sake of our health, we need to kick the indoor habit.
Pic source - https://www.theartofdesignmagazine.com/7395-2/
Since I’ve been spending less time outdoors, I’ve been experiencing fatigue, depression and increase in allergies. It’s vitally important to spend a healthy amount of time in nature... bugs, sun, dirt and all.
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I couldn't agree more - walking's my main mode of transport so I think I spend a lot more time out of doors compared to most people! Between that and running, it can mount up to several hours a day sometimes.
It's good to get our for sure!
Anecdotally from my own experience, there are far more school and college children wearing glasses these days.
In the past people who wore glasses were ridiculed in school. A little bit of nudge theory later.
It has now become a bit of a fashion to wear glasses even when not needed so it's difficult to assess the true extent of vision impairment from my end. No data.
The allergy issue is also tricky to assess.
It may be the case that we have just got better at detecting allergies and creating treatments.
In the past. People with allergies just died we must assume without accurate data it's difficult to confirm or deny.
There is for sure another angle to this kind of research. Big pharma?
It does seem that we have more people with allergies today than when I was a kid.
Maybe it is at epidemic levels or maybe just a marketing ploy?
Vitamin D can be absorbed by just spending 10 minutes in the sun even in England in the winter.
Interesting piece. I'd like to see the data set and who sponsored the research.
The main article I read was from an English Academic, drawing on lots of data, fair point we should check the sources of all these things.
It's just a theory at the moment, but one that makes intuitive sense - that lack of sunlight leads to detiorating health.
You're right in saying that there are other possible interpretations!
I agree that the lack of sunlight can have a powerful effect on us. This is bourne out through the studies on suicide rates.
The further north we are on the planet the higher the incidence of suicide so it isn't much of a jump to think that it has other major health impacts.
Source
Anything that gets people up and out is a good idea. There is a tendency in northern climes to spend a lot of time indoors.
The allergies definitely feel much more prevalent these days. Someone having a peanut allegy was very rare and novel idea not so long ago?
Guyana seems like an interesting place?
Interesting. I didn't know about the link between vitamin D and allergies. My niece has peanut allergy but her parents are outdoors people and she was camping at 6 months old. I guess it just makes it more likely.
We definitely should be outdoors more. I try to train my family members but it is difficult. Some of my favorite part time jobs were outdoor ones, too.
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I didn't either TBH.... however as you say living outdoors won't necessarily make you allergy free - I guess there mist be multiple causes, not that surprising!
I developed myopia between the ages of 17 and 19. I know this as I took my driving test at 17 without glasses, failed it.. then needed to borrow some for my 2nd attempt 2 years later.
You might notice I don't wear them nowadays... laser treatment was the best 2K I ever spent.
Doesn't sound like that was liked to too much time in doors, guess it's one cause among many.
2K sounds like a bargain!
I'm pretty short-sighted, but that may be down to spending to much time reading as a kid. It came on before I had a computer, but then that probably didn't help much. At least I get out a lot to run now.
I was thinking while reading around this that running is one of many great antidotes!
Nature refills me - every time! The views, the scents, flowers, trees, birds, bugs, plants,... There's so much aliveness around us, but in these crazy times we live in, it's hard to notice it... Being indoors for a longer period of time, makes me anxious...
That's why I started a little garden and there's so much stuff about life I learned there! And some people around look at me as I'm crazy for doing it - when I can buy it cheap - imagine!
Money can't buy my connection with Mother nature! These days I'm picking my strawberries, those that don't taste like plastic...
Priceless for me! :)
I know what you mean - sometimes I like to just sit outdoors.
Nothing like growing your own - it really is very satisfying! Especially soft fruits!
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Interesting. I had been wondering about the increase in allergies; some are attributable to modern food processing and something called "industrial ingredients"; not getting enough sunlight as well makes sense.
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