Are the cadastral boundaries enough? The impact of reducing contact with nature and places on the health and well-being of young people
Abstract
It was not officially possible to leave the cadastral territory for recreational purposes in Czechia during the period from 1 to 21 March 2021. The aim of this study was to find out how this lockdown affected young people's spending time in nature and how it affected their health and mental state.
Our research was aimed at pupils and students at all levels of schools. Immediately after the end of the strictest phase of the lockdown, we conducted a questionnaire survey.
During this survey we collected answers from more than a thousand pupils and students (elementary school pupils, secondary school students and university students), as well as 160 parents of pre-school children and primary school pupils (their answers represent 269 children). The questionnaire contained both closed and open-ended questions.
The results show that the impact of restrictive measures on the health and psyche of young people was significant, especially for women. Lockdown significantly reduced respondents' opportunities to spend time in nature.
The men spent significantly more of their free time in front of the screens. Respondents living in buildings without their own garden and young people who could not use a recreational building outside the district of residence during the lockdown were most affected by restrictions.