Parkrun event in Newcastle, UK
Alan Harbottle/Alamy
Participating in a Parkrun event (a free activity where you are encouraged to walk or run five kilometers each week) appears to improve life satisfaction.
Parkrun is a charity that organizes events in 22 countries including the UK, US and Australia. In previous research, Improve your physical and mental health.
To learn more, Steve Haake Researchers from Sheffield Hallam University in the UK analyzed 548 people between the ages of 18 and 83 with varying amounts of exercise. The survey was conducted immediately after enrolling in Parkrun, which sponsored part of the study, and again six months later. In the survey, participants ranked their life satisfaction from 0 to 10.
This revealed that participating in Parkrun events led to an average increase in life satisfaction of approximately 0.25 points. For context, people in the UK generally reported a decline of 0.4 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Haake said. Who are the members of Parkrun’s research committee?.
On average, participants estimated that around 25% of the 0.25 point increase in life satisfaction was due to Parkrun. While this is a small improvement, “one thing we can say from a public health perspective is that small changes for many people are actually very meaningful and valuable,” he said. I say. Claire Stevinson At Loughborough University, UK.
Each person participated in an average of two Parkrun events. This may have led to other life changes, such as becoming more active in general, Haake said.
“Parkrun provides a socially supportive and free environment, usually located in a nice park, which is very encouraging and allows people to develop regular exercise habits that they probably wouldn’t otherwise be able to do. ,” says Stevinson. “It has cascading benefits for health and weight, mental health and social well-being.”
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