Summer Over but Kids Still Need Time Outdoors
Fred Goodwin, CMA
http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/522009/
Source: National Wildlife Federation (NWF)
Released: Wed 19-Jul-2006, 12:00 ET
Newswise - Summertime often provides a reprieve for children with
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), but now that school is
starting up, the usual parental concerns are at the forefront again.
Can my child stay focused enough to keep up with his class work? Will
he get the extra attention he needs in the classroom to keep him on
task? There are now 2.5 million children using ADHD medications to
reduce symptoms, but there may be a "greener" part of the solution.
Researchers at the University of Illinois have found that exposure to
"ordinary natural settings", like those experienced more of during
summertime, may be widely effective in reducing attention deficit
symptoms in children. Researchers Frances Kuo and Andrea Faber Taylor
recommend that children with ADHD spend some quality after-school hours
and weekend time outdoors enjoying nature. And it's not just kids
with ADHD that can benefit from a "green hour".
Today's kids are indoors more than any previous generation. Computer
time, video games and TV, taking up an average of six hours of a
child's day according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, have replaced
time spent running through backyards, front yards, tree-line streets,
biking around the neighborhood, and playing in local parks or wooded
areas.
"Research says that people get attached to nature by spending time in
nature, says Kevin Coyle, Vice President of Education for the National
Wildlife Federation. "If we don't get kids out more, how are they
going to experience the wonders of Mother Nature?"
Author Rich Louv, who coined the phrase "nature deficit disorder"
agrees, saying the sense of wonder and awe that nature inspires in all
of us just can't be replicated by playing Grand Theft Auto. He also
believes that the ravine behind the house or little wooded area at the
end of the cul-de-sac can be just as effective as taking your child to
Yosemite.
An organization called Playing for Keeps has assembled some
particularly troubling data:
Unstructured outdoor activities declined by 50 percent compared to the
previous generation.
· More than 80 percent of children under age 2 and more than 60
percent ages 2-5 do not have access to daily outdoor play.
· The average American home with a toddler has the TV on six hours a
day.
· The average 2-year-old spends more than four hours a day in front
of a TV or computer screen.
· One in six 2-year-olds has a TV in his or her bedroom.
Some researches refer to this phenomenon of people preferring
sedentary, electronically-based activities to more active pursuits
"videophilia", a new spin on the old "couch potato".
Children who fish, camp and spend time in the wild before age 11 are
also much more likely to grow up to be environmentally-minded and
committed as adults. Researchers at Cornell University sampled more
than 2,000 adults, ages 18-90, about their early childhood nature
experiences and their current adult attitudes and behaviors related to
the environment. They concluded that "participating in wild nature
activities before age 11 is a particularly potent pathway toward
shaping both environmental attitudes and behaviors in adulthood. When
children become truly engaged with the natural world at a young age,
the experience is likely to stay with them in a powerful way -
shaping their subsequent environmental path." With the serious
environmental threats facing our nation, from habitat loss, to the
dangerous impacts of global warming, creating the next generation of
conservation stewards is ever more important.
All this research points in one direction. Even though the demands of
the school year are back in play, children need to get outside for a
"green hour" every day, especially children with ADHD. The result
is happier, healthier kids whose creativity and imagination will soar,
and a generation of adults who will care for the planet.
Check out the National Wildlife Federation's web site for Green Hour
ideas, http://www.nwf.org/greenhour.
The National Wildlife Federation is America's conservation
organization protecting wildlife for our children's future.