New research suggests that having access to natural surroundings will improve sleep quality.

Researchers from the University of Illinois and New York University revealed that men and persons age 65 and older who have access to natural surroundings, whether it's the green space of a nearby park or a sandy beach and an ocean view, report sleeping better.

"It's hard to overestimate the importance of high-quality sleep," researcher Diana Grigsby-Toussaint said in a statement. "Studies show that inadequate sleep is associated with declines in mental and physical health, reduced cognitive function, and increased obesity. This new study shows that exposure to a natural environment may help people get the sleep they need."

For the study, researchers used data from the CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, which surveyed more than 255,000 representative U.S. adults, to learn whether there was an association between self-reported days of insufficient sleep and access to green space. The team also used a USDA index that scores the country's geographical areas for their natural amenities, using hours of sunlight, which is important in regulating a person's circadian rhythm, and temperature.

They found that the most common answer that respondents had slept poorly for less than one week.

"Interestingly, though, across the entire sample, individuals reporting 21 to 29 days of insufficient sleep consistently had lower odds of access to green space and natural amenities compared to those reporting less than one week," she said.

For men, the relationship between sleep and exposure to green space was much stronger than for women. And males and females 65 and over found nature to be a potent sleep, Grigsby-Toussaint said.

She noted that living near green landscapes is associated with higher levels of physical activity and that exercise in turn predicts beneficial sleep patterns.

But men appeared to benefit much more from their natural surroundings. The researcher speculated that women may take less advantage of nearby natural settings out of concern for their safety, but she added that more research is needed.

"If there is a way for persons over 65 to spend time in nature, it would improve the quality of their sleep--and their quality of life--if they did so," Grigsby-Toussaint said.

The findings, which are detailed in the journal Preventive Medicine, should be a boon for people who are having trouble sleeping as they age, she added.