Health Benefits of Urban Allotment Gardening: Improved Physical and Psychological Well-Being and Social Integration

Urban Farm DB summary

A questionnaire survey of 332 allotment gardeners and non-gardeners in Tokyo compared five self-reported outcomes: perceived general health, physical complaints, BMI, mental health and social cohesion. Allotment gardeners reported better general health, fewer complaints, better mental health and greater social cohesion, indicating that urban allotment gardening can improve residents' physical and mental health and community ties.

Only numbers and their conditions are stored, as structured data — never the source's own sentences. Metric and condition names stay in English, as coded.

• 332

  survey respondent count(allotment gardener)

  Healthn = 332

  region

  JP-13

  setting

  urban

  study design

  questionnaire-survey

• better than non gardeners↑ Increase

  perceived general health(allotment gardener)

  Healthn = 332Control: non-gardener controls

  region

  JP-13

  setting

  urban

  study design

  regression-adjusted-for-sociodemographic-and-lifestyle

• better than non gardeners↑ Increase

  subjective health complaints(allotment gardener)

  Healthn = 332Control: non-gardener controls

  region

  JP-13

  setting

  urban

  study design

  regression-adjusted-for-sociodemographic-and-lifestyle

• better than non gardeners↑ Increase

  mental health(allotment gardener)

  Healthn = 332Control: non-gardener controls

  region

  JP-13

  setting

  urban

  study design

  regression-adjusted-for-sociodemographic-and-lifestyle

• better than non gardeners↑ Increase

  social cohesion(allotment gardener)

  Socialn = 332Control: non-gardener controls

  region

  JP-13

  setting

  urban

  study design

  regression-adjusted-for-sociodemographic-and-lifestyle

• no difference vs non gardeners→ No change

  body mass index(allotment gardener)

  Healthn = 332Control: non-gardener controls

  region

  JP-13

  setting

  urban

  study design

  questionnaire-survey

• no significant influence→ No changeNot significant

  effect of gardening frequency and duration(allotment gardener)

  Healthn = 332

  region

  JP-13

  setting

  urban

  outcome

  self-reported-health-outcomes

Direction of conclusions

Each author conclusion is recorded only as a coded direction per topic. Read the original for the conclusion itself.

• Mental healthSupportsWith caveats
• Community cohesionSupportsWith caveats
• Nutrition and healthMixedWith caveats

With an ever-increasing urban population, promoting public health and well-being in towns and cities is a major challenge. Previous research has suggested that participating in allotment gardening delivers a wide range of health benefits. However, evidence from quantitative analyses is still scarce. Here, we quantify the effects, if any, of participating in allotment gardening on physical, psychological and social health. A questionnaire survey of 332 people was performed in Tokyo, Japan. We compared five self-reported health outcomes between allotment gardeners and non-gardener controls: perceived general health, subjective health complaints, body mass index (BMI), mental health and social cohesion. Accounting for socio-demographic and lifestyle variables, regression models revealed that allotment gardeners, compared to non-gardeners, reported better perceived general health, subjective health complaints, mental health and social cohesion. BMI did not differ between gardeners and non-gardeners. Neither frequency nor duration of gardening significantly influenced reported health outcomes. Our results highlight that regular gardening on allotment sites is associated with improved physical, psychological and social health. With the recent escalation in the prevalence of chronic diseases, and associated healthcare costs, this study has a major implication for policy, as it suggests that urban allotments have great potential for preventative healthcare.