The Healing Effects of Nature On Children

Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair. ~Kahlil Gibran

Disconnected..... best describes the relationship most American children have with nature. Richard Louv, author of the book "Last Child In the Woods", coined the term nature-deficit disorder. All across the United States there is a decline in the number of families visiting National Parks and an increase in the ownership of electronic media by children. Louv, says children growing up today are deprived from the many healing elements found within nature. There are a growing number of research studies that indicate the negative effects that occur when children experience less time in nature.

1. More demands on children's time. In past generations children had much more free or unstructured time where they could create, dream, and fantasize through play. This type of imaginative play helps build a child's character, develop a child's sense of autonomy, practice problem solving, and uncover his or her own natural element of creativity.

2. Less opportunity for exploration. Due to the increase in reports of child abductions, child molestation, violence against children, and scare tactics found on the local news parents are living in a culture of fear. Many parents are now frightened to let their children ride bikes to school, walk independently to the bus stop, or even play outside in their own gated backyard. This fear has contributed to children having less opportunity to engage in outdoor play. In fact, America’s Children a Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics found that children today are much safer from being victimized now they were in the past.

3. Less time spent in the outdoors. Many research studies now indicate that three out of four Americans suffer from vitamin D deficiency. Sunlight exposure is the only reliable way for the body to generate and activate vitamin D in the body. Vitamin D is not actually a vitamin but a fat soluble hormone that influences the development and maintenance of over 300 genes. Scientists are now discovering that may of the current health problems we have in the United States are related to the vitamin D deficiency. Exposure to natural sunlight 3 times a week for 20-30 minutes at a time reduces your risk of acquiring diseases such as cancer and diabetes by a reported 50-80%. Vitamin D deficiency is associated with chronic muscle aches and pains, fibromyalgia, schizophrenia, seasonal affective disorder, bone fractures, osteoporosis, rickets, various cancers, type 1 and type 2 diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease.

4. Sedentary lifestyle. Our children are increasingly less mobile and more sedentary. This has lead to the current epidemic of obesity and low vitamin D levels. Less time spent outside means less time for activity and less exposure to sunlight. Obese children need twice as much vitamin D than children of a healthy weight because vitamin D is not absorbed as effectively in obese individuals.

5. Urbanization of America. Even in rural areas, many Americans now live what Louv calls, an "urbanized life". Farming or growing our own fruits and vegetables is becoming obsolete in many areas of the United States, even in rural areas. Our depleted soil and lack of understanding how to live off the land has further advanced the urbanization of our nation.

When children frequently play in nature it provides important benefits to their spiritual, intellectual, physical, emotional, and mental well-being. Here are few proven ways children benefit from unstructured outdoor play.

1. Better focus and concentration. Dr. Kuo found that when children who have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) play outside they demonstrate a better ability to focus, concentrate, and perform. Children who frequently play outside in an unstructured environment have demonstrated higher scores on concentration tests than children who play indoors. These researchers believe that the brain needs time to renew or have mental breaks. The time children spend in nature acts to restore attention opposed to time spend in front of the television or playing video games which drains the attention centers in the brain.

2. Better coordination and agility. Scientists have found that children who regularly play outside have better coordination, agility, and balance. These children develop better motor skills and are less metabolically challenged than children who spend most of the time indoors.

3. Improved memory skills. Memory levels improve when children play outside. This might be due to the extra benefits they receive from vitamin D. Or an improvement in memory could be due to the fact that play in a natural environment heightens the mechanistic ability of the four senses.

4. Physically healthier. When children remain indoors they are not often exposed to the health benefits of fresh air. Infections breed in enclosed environments. Encouraging children to play outside helps strengthen their immunity resulting in less sickness.

5. Better prepared for real world situations. When children play in natural environments they learn to improve their awareness to their surroundings, use and navigate the world with heightened senses, and build on their observation skills. Learning in a natural environment helps children handle real world situations better than time spent in front of the computer or time spent playing video games.

6. More imaginative play. According to researchers, children who play outside often have more imaginative play that helps build social skills. When outside children can use leaves, dirt, sand, water, grass, and other natural elements to feel the texture of nature, observe the multitude of colors found in nature, and listen to the unique sounds of nature. Those creative and engaging experiences where children experience an element of surprise as they uncover the "secrets" found in nature cannot be experienced indoors.

7. Better ability to handle daily stressors. Researchers found that when children play outside nature has a calming element which helps children to better handle everyday life stressors. The more children play in nature, the greater the stress benefits are.

8. Better social relationships. Children who often play in nature have better social relationships with their peers. Malone and Tranter, found that unstructured outdoor play reduces the amount of bullying behavior.

9. Cultivates a love for nature and for life. Regular contact with nature gives children a love for nature and the environment. We cannot love what we fear. Children who grow up without frequent contact with nature may not possess a desire to preserve nature and protect the environment, when they become adults.

10. Encourages autonomy and individuality. Children who frequently play outdoors have the opportunity to feel powerful. When children play video games they might feel powerful after winning a game or uncovering a hidden or secret passage but this power does not compare with the energized power they receive from overcoming elements found in nature. For example, when children discover how to climb a tree, open up an acorn, or build a sand castle they will anticipate the adventures that await them in nature.

Dr. Stephen Kellert of Yale University describes play in middle childhood as an important time for children to develop problem solving skills, creativity, agility, physical readiness, and many other skills that lead to healthy growth and development. Dr. Rhonda Clemets and other researchers found that the current generation of children spend less time playing outdoors than the time their mothers spent during their childhood. In her study, 71% of today's mothers reported playing outside every day as young girls.Of these same mothers only 26% of them reported their children engaged in daily outside play.

If the trend of children being disconnected from nature continues we could end up becoming the first generation of humans who fear the outdoors, have limited knowledge on how to live off the land, and forget how to plant, grow, and cultivate a garden for our own family and friends.

Hope for the Future

The Children and Nature Network is working hard to educate the public about the importance of staying connected to nature. They print material, conduct seminars, publish articles, conduct research studies, and work with the various universities throughout the United States to help educate Americans young and old in the benefits of reestablishing our connection with nature.

Many local farmers invite children and their families to tour their farms, participate in farming, and educate members of the community about the importance of reconnecting with nature. Local libraries and local parks throughout the United States hold events where community members can participate in learning how to plant and grow a community garden.

If it is cold where you live pick up your jacket, grab your kids, and head outdoors. Let your children see you breathing in the cool fresh air and reconnecting with nature. As Gary Nabhan and Stephen Trimble said, "For ourselves, and for our planet, we must be both strong and strongly connected-with each other, with the earth. As children, we need time to wander, to be outside, to nibble on icicles, watch ants, to build with dirt and sticks in the hollow of the earth, to lie back and contemplate clouds." Nature is waiting your return!

For more articles or information about the author Kelley Ward, PhD, RN, C please visit here.