The association of daily gardening and healthy ageing in Singapore

Abstract

This study investigates the benefits of gardening, exploring its relevance in an ageing population. A cross-sectional study was conducted with participants aged 30–98 years, who were given a questionnaire with four components for evaluation: sociodemographic characteristics, gardening status and reasons, physical health, and mental health. A total of 386 complete responses were obtained. Participants were categorised into two groups based on gardening frequency. One group included individuals who do not garden or garden occasionally, and the other group being those who garden daily (26.4%). The top reason for gardening was “happiness or satisfaction”, while “insufficient time” was the most cited reason for not gardening. Analysis showed that gardening daily was associated with 43% lower odds of developing poor health, defined as having either anxiety, health limitations, or both (OR = 0.57, 95%CI 0.32–0.99, p = 0.0499). There may also be an association between gardening daily and a reduction in the odds of developing anxiety and health limitations individually, although not statistically significant. Overall, this study shows that gardening daily was associated with better health outcomes, reducing anxiety and health limitations. This supports the promotion of gardening as an activity for healthy ageing.