Science proves visiting the coast can be beneficial to your health

Living near the sea has always been recommended by doctors to improve one's health but a new study that looked at data from 15 different countries found there may actually be some truth in the old wives' tale that the fresh air of the ocean can cure any ailment.

The theory that being within reach of the ocean can help improve your health isn’t a new one Science Daily noted. Doctors in England first started prescribing coastal bathing and walks along the seashore for their health benefits all the way back in the 1600s. 

By the time the 1800s rolled around, the idea of spending time by the sea was regularly promoted among wealthier Europeans as a health treatment—something that only started to decline when modern medicine hit the scene in the twentieth century.

However, the pull of the sea as a modern medical treatment for what ails some has made a bit of a comeback as of late, and a group of enterprising researchers wanted to figure out if living by the sea really did provide any health benefits or if it was just a placebo. 

Using public health data collected from Europe and Australia, researchers were able to look at 15 different countries and investigate whether or not living next to the sea really did provide tangible health benefits, and their findings turn out to be pretty conclusive. 

The researchers surveyed over 15,000 people and found those who lived close to the coast and visited it often were associated with better self-reported general health, a result that they found held consistent across all of the countries that they studied. 

The findings of the survey led researchers to propose that giving more people access to coastal areas may be a more viable way of promoting public health across Europe and Australia. But the researchers also made a few more surprising discoveries. 

Results from the survey were not as strong among people in low-income households in comparison to higher-income households, challenging what the researchers said was widespread assumptions that access to the sea buffered income-related health inequalities. 

Despite the revelation that income played a role in the health benefits one could get by visiting the seaside, one of the study's authors still said that their findings should be taken into account when countries look at how they can develop their coastal communities. 

"The substantial health benefits of equal and sustainable access to our coasts should be considered when countries develop their marine spatial plans, consider future housing needs, and develop public transportation links," said Dr. Paullet Kellet. 

Kellet is a member of the European Marine Board and one of the study’s co-authors six other individuals, another of which was lead author Sandra Geiger, who called her research team’s findings striking because of the consistency shown across all countries studied. 

"It is striking to see such consistent and clear patterns across all 15 countries… We also now demonstrate that everybody seems to benefit from being near the seaside, not just the wealthy,” Geiger explained according to comments republished in Science Daily.

Geiger added that while associations were relatively small, living near the sea and more importantly actually visiting it could still have “substantial effects on population health.”

The study found that 53.4% of the total effect of coastal visits on improved self-reported health emerged in people who visited the seaside only once or twice a year compared to those who never visited, though they admitted there could be some reverse causality. 

For example, people with chronic illnesses might be prevented from visiting the seaside, which in turn would make a once or twice-a-year visit something that greatly improved their health compared to other individuals who were able to access the sea more often. 

Interestingly, the study’s authors noted that the country with the strongest relationship to improved health with the sea was Ireland and the country with the weakest relationship was Italy and noted coastal tourism, longer distances, and access could play a factor.