Exploring the Relationship between Walking and Emotional Health in China

Zhu, Zhenjun; Chen, Hongsheng; Ma, Jianxiao; He, Yudong; Chen, Junlan; Sun, Jingrui

doi:10.3390/ijerph17238804

Open AccessArticle

Exploring the Relationship between Walking and Emotional Health in China

by

Zhenjun Zhu

¹,

Hongsheng Chen

^2,*,

Jianxiao Ma

¹,

Yudong He

¹,

Junlan Chen

³ and

Jingrui Sun

¹

College of Automobile and Traffic Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China

²

School of Architecture, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China

³

School of Transportation, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(23), 8804; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17238804

Submission received: 5 November 2020 / Revised: 20 November 2020 / Accepted: 21 November 2020 / Published: 27 November 2020

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Abstract

Walking has a positive impact on people’s emotional health. However, in the case of serious air pollution, it is controversial whether walking exercise can still improve individuals’ emotional health. Using data from the 2014 wave of the China Labor-Force Dynamics Survey, this study explored the relationship between walking and emotional health with different levels of environmental pollution. The results indicated that respondents who took regular walks had better emotional health than those who did not walk regularly. For those whose main mode of physical exercise was walking, the average number of walks per week was significantly and positively correlated with their emotional health; however, the average duration of the walk had no significant impact on their emotional health. Moreover, for those whose main mode of physical exercise was walking and who lived in neighborhoods with a polluted environment, regular walking still had a positive impact on their emotional health. This suggests that even if environmental pollution is serious, walking still plays an important role in regulating individuals’ mental health. We propose that in order to promote the emotional health of residents, it is necessary to create more public spaces for outdoor activities and simultaneously increase efforts to control environmental pollution.

Keywords: walking; emotional health; physical exercises; air pollution; health effect

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MDPI and ACS Style

Zhu, Z.; Chen, H.; Ma, J.; He, Y.; Chen, J.; Sun, J. Exploring the Relationship between Walking and Emotional Health in China. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 8804. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17238804

AMA Style

Zhu Z, Chen H, Ma J, He Y, Chen J, Sun J. Exploring the Relationship between Walking and Emotional Health in China. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020; 17(23):8804. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17238804

Chicago/Turabian Style

Zhu, Zhenjun, Hongsheng Chen, Jianxiao Ma, Yudong He, Junlan Chen, and Jingrui Sun. 2020. "Exploring the Relationship between Walking and Emotional Health in China" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17, no. 23: 8804. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17238804

APA Style

Zhu, Z., Chen, H., Ma, J., He, Y., Chen, J., & Sun, J. (2020). Exploring the Relationship between Walking and Emotional Health in China. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(23), 8804. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17238804

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Exploring the Relationship between Walking and Emotional Health in China

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