Get Your Green Thumb On: Trimming Your Garden Helps You Trim Your Waistline

If you like spending time poking around in the garden, we've got great news for you! You're most likely healthier than those who don't like to feed and water their flowers.

According to a recent study, green-fingered ladies were up to a dress size smaller than their less nature-inclined counterparts, while men who got to an allotment can expect to be around a stone lighter as well.

Researchers confirmed that not only is exercise a benefit seen through this activity, but getting out in the garden around home-grown fruit and vegetables can make a huge difference in your overall health, particularly in your diet. Previous studies have credited gardening with a host of benefits from raising zest for life to boosting happiness. University of Utah researchers also support this idea with their study.

Almost 200 men and women who had tended plots for at least a year with the measurements of those who lived by were studied. Two groups had access to the same leisure facilities, such as parks, and had a similar economic status. However, the gardeners were clearly thinker, according to the Journal of Public Health.

The men were 62 per cent less likely to be overweight or obese as those who gardened, while the women were 46 per cent less likely to have a weight problem.

The analysis also showed that a woman who was a fairly average 5ft 5in tall and gardened was on average 11lb lighter than a non-gardening female neighbour. This equates to around a dress size.

And, even more important, the study found that these differences could not be explained by good genes, as family members of gardeners who did not participate in the same activities were not as trim.

However, husbands and wives appeared to benefit from the fruits of their spouse's labour, possibly because they helped out in the garden or ate the produce at home.

Lead author Cathleen Zick, professor of family and consumer studies, said that having an allotment may be particularly beneficial, as people may feel extra pressure to keep their plots looking nice. 

However, she expects tending a normal garden to also be good for weight.

Professor Zick, who has "a small backyard garden," cautioned that her data was drawn from a single community.

But despite this, she said her results could be "of interest to urban planners, public health officials and others focused on designing new neighbourhoods.

"We know that obesity is costly," she said. "This study begins to shed light on the costs and benefits of the choices families make about eating and physical activity."