Changes in outdoor physical activities among older people in Sweden: Exploring generational shifts in time spent in natural environments

Abstract

We explore to what extent ageing is associated with increased active time spent in natural environments. We anticipate this pattern, aligned with active ageing theory, as greater exposure to nature is associated with better health and well-being, including in old age. Following cohorts of elderly people over time using daily time-use survey data from Sweden, we observe nature contacts including gardening, walking in parks, active nature pursuits, and outdoor exercising. The results indicate that spending active time in natural environments increases sharply in the years after retirement, the pattern remaining when a cohort moves into an older phase. However, we find no signs that the active time spent outdoors increases as new generations enter retirement. We find no dramatic social differences, aside from spatially segregated activities connected with individual housing situations. Older people who live in detached homes spend more time gardening, whereas residents of multi-family housing spend more time in natural environments located farther from home, indicating a compensatory relationship.