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This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin. This will just take a minute.

Ahhh, the great outdoors. Great for your health, too. Because studies suggest that the more we visit local parks, the more fit we are.

Researchers at Penn State crunched¹ the numbers from a variety of studies, for a report they prepared for the National Recreation and Park Association.

In a five-city survey, 38 percent of people over 50-years-old said they used a park at least once a week. So these oases² are more than just a pretty place.

People on the other end of the age spectrum³ benefit too. One study showed that adolescent girls do 17 more minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity every week for each park within a half mile of home. And each additional $10 per person that the government invests in parks and recreation was associated with a third-of-a-day more vigorous exercise by girls every week. Such state spending also drove more strength-building exercise for boys and girls.

All of which should prevent some of the more than $8,000 per year of health care costs per person. So officials looking to do some belt tightening⁴ should think twice about cutting parks to cut the budget fat. Because parks cut our actual fat.