A natural remedy: The benefits of time outdoors

Bay Area News Group – November 04, 2007
By Suzanne Bohan

• [>] VIDEO: The movement to get kids back into nature

For Chanda Mong, an Oakland 18-year-old, tension from living with nearly constant anxiety over her safety slipped away during her time in the woods. ``I just think about lots of stuff, like how I'm messing up and what I need to do,'' Mong said.

Compelling studies also suggest that a natural remedy may exist for reducing the symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. More than 4 million youth ages 4 to 17 are diagnosed with the condition, according to federal statistics. Symptoms include difficulty paying attention or listening, excessive fidgeting, and regularly interrupting others.

A 2005 study from the University of Illinois, which entailed a nationwide analysis of play patterns of children with ADHD, found that those who spent time in nature had significantly fewer symptoms than those who played in an outdoor built environment, such as a soccer field, or played inside.

Other research found that even a room with a view of nature reduced ADHD symptoms.

Even test scores improved by teaching kids in natural settings, according to a 2005 study from the California Department of Education. It found that 255 sixth-graders at risk for breaking the law who studied science in an outdoor setting improved their test scores by 27 percent, as well as their conflict resolution skills.

Time spent outdoors also had intangible effects, such as improving self-esteem, cultivating leadership and restoring a sense of wonder for the world.

A life-altering experience

A glorious night sky filled with piercing stars changed Juan Martinez's life forever when he was 15 and on the edge of entering a life of gangs, drugs, fast money and violence. Martinez, now 23 and statewide volunteer coordinator for the Sierra Club's ``Building Bridges to the Outdoors'' initiative, which promotes visits to the wilderness by urban youth, still vividly recalls that evening.

After he stepped off a bus at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, dispatched as part of an ecology program at his South Central high school in Los Angeles, the night sky dazzled him.

``I'd never seen anything like it,'' remembers Martinez.

The beauty he saw that night and all around him in Grand Teton awakened something in him. ``It was curiosity that came back to me,'' Martinez said. ``And I started realizing my life could be more than just what I thought possible.''

Martinez returned home and foreswore any gang affiliation. He now works as a housing advocate, and plans to become an environmental lawyer.

Richard Louv, author of ``Last Child in the Woods,'' noted that these initiatives to bring children closer to nature also bridge political and cultural divides, since protecting children's health is as non-controversial as outdoor play.

It's also empowering for parents, he added, since with simple and inexpensive steps, they can make a profound difference in their children's lives.

``I think the response behind this is people really want to do something,'' Louv said. ``But they've felt overwhelmed and depressed'' about environmental issues.

He and others envision the Leave No Child Inside movement, given its rapid growth, as becoming one of the seminal environmental issues of the 21st century.

``I think it's part of a turning point,'' Louv said. ``If it's not, then we're all really in trouble.''

For more information on the Leave No Child Inside Movement, visit the Children and Nature Network at www.childrenandnature.org. For information on the Bay Area initiative, visit www.hookedonnature.org.

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