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SPECIAL kids’ HEALTH REPORT Recess, soccer practice, the neighbor hood playground all are great av enues for getting our kids up and out. But when it comes to their mental as well as physical well-being, children need something else, something el emental: They need nature. So says a new school of thought that is gaining notice by children’s medical and mental health experts. Supporters assert that, for a child, a deep forest or sprawling parkland can be the best playground ever. Author Richard Louv’s groundbreaking book, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature- Deficit Disorder, has been a catalyst for kick-starting the movement. Louv’s new book also gives a name to what he says is a troubling disconnect between today’s children and the great outdoors: “nature deficit disorder.” Blame it on shrinking green space, overschedul ing by families whatever the reason, the result is limiting the potential of today’s young people, Louv says. He brings together anecdotal evidence gath ered from years of traveling the United States and talking to kids, as well as the most comprehensive research on nature and its benefits. He concludes that the absence of nature in many children’s lives is key when it comes to problems they increasingly MEET OUR EXPERTS > 4 irFL B Tedd Mitchell, M.D. In addition to dispensing medical advice every week in USA WEEKEND'S Health Smart column, Mitchell is president, medical director and staff physician at the Cooper Clinic in Dallas. He is also a member of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. Martha Farrell Erickson, Ph.D. Erickson is director of the Irving B. Harris Programs (Center for Early Education and Development) at the University of Minnesota. She also writes a syndicated weekly newspaper column on parenting. Richard Louv Louv is the author of seven books, including the best-selling Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder. In addition to writing, he advocates for children, serving as the chairman of the Children & Nature Network. 8 USA WEEKEND • Nov. 16-18,2007 MOTHER NATURE KNOWS BEST Doctors, psychologists and child advocates % agree: Getting your kids back in touch with the great outdoors can improve their health and well-being. face, such as obesity, attention disorders, depression and stress. Louv posits that exposure to nature can help prevent these ills and enhance our children’s academic and emotional growth. “Although we don’t yet have a wealth of rigor ous, controlled studies that allow us to make a definitive statement about cause and effect, we do have a variety of studies that collectively point to an association between outdoor play and an ajjp array of good outcomes for kids,” says Martha Erickson, Ph.D., a children’s mental health §MJb!z expert and senior fellow and professor at the University of Minnesota. (See “The Mr Outside Advantage” on the _ Ms/“ — next page for some of the • , latest findings.) * Over the years, the hours that children W spend playing outside can pay off when it wk comes to physical, intellectual and social devel opment. Yet, such valuable interaction is fleet ing these days. FYom 1997 to 2003, there was a 50% drop in kids who participated in outdoor activities such as hiking, walking and fishing, according to a Univer sity of Maryland study. Erickson and Louv, who both are active in the Children & Nature Network, which seeks to raise awareness about the importance of nature in kids’ lives, say that even time-pressed families and city dwellers can find places that fit the bill. And law makers are listening, too. Some states, including Con necticut, California and Maine, have launched initia tives to get more young people outdoors. And on the federal level, the [Tending No Child Left Inside Act Mk jsßf a m Y -M- Cover and cover story photo Illustrations by CJ. Burton for USA WEEKEND