Health News
National | Resource
nytimes.com – October 17, 2008
Study: Nature Walks Help Kids Concentrate
By Tara Parker-Hope
In a small but tightly controlled recent study, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign found that a nature walk worked as well or better than a dose of medication on a child’s ability to concentrate. The participants—seventeen children with ADHD—were able to focus better after a walking in parks than they were after walking in residential neighborhoods or downtown areas.
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Commentary | Legislation/Policy
Wall Street Journal – August 13, 2008
WSJ: Why Safe Kids Are Becoming Fat Kids
By Philip K. Howard
The desire to insulate children from all forms of risk is having unintended consequences, writes attorney Philip Howard in the Wall Street Journal’s Commentary section. “The harmful effects of our national safety obsession ripple outward into society. One in six children in America is obese, and many of them will face a lifetime of chronic illness.”
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Commentary
Miami Herald – May 31, 2008
Miami Herald: The Changing Nature of Play
By Ana Veciana-Suarez
A sobering article in the Miami Herald looks at the reasons why fewer children today enjoy the kind of free play that was common even a generation ago. As a single mother who fears letting her daughters play outdoors unsupervised remarks in the article, “I think they’re missing out on the freedom to be a child, to do just what they want.”
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National | Resource
ScienceDaily – May 05, 2008
Why Do Child-Care Centers Keep Kids Inside?
A new study of outdoor play at child-care centers has identified some surprising reasons for keeping children inside, among them teachers’ reluctance to bundle and unbundle children on cold days, and parents who don’t want their children getting injured or dirty. The researchers, citing the benefits of outdoor activity, hope their findings help reduce the barriers currently preventing more children from playing outside. [+]
Commentary
San Jose Mercury News – February 15, 2008
Silicon Valley, Turn Off Your Computers and Go Outside
By Vindu Goel
Faced with a proposal by Gov. Schwarzenegger to close 48 California state parks, a San Jose columnist encourages his fellow Silicon Valley constituents to make their presence felt by turning off their computers and venturing outdoors. “If we value our parks, we have to prove it to the politicians—and ourselves.”
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Commentary
National Public Radio – February 21, 2008
NPR: The Importance of Old-Fashioned Play
By Alix Spiegel
National Public Radio’s Alix Spiegel reports on how childhood recreation has changed over the past 50 years, from improvised play that often took place outdoors to structured play that often requires specific toys and follows a predetermined script. Spiegel also explores the many adverse effects these changes have had on children’s cognitive and emotional development.
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Commentary
Green Living Online – January 15, 2008
Combatting Nature-Deficit Disorder in Winter
By Joyce Nelson
One reason children spend less time outdoors during the winter is the fear of catching cold and getting sick. As Green Living Online points out, however, it’s not necessarily winter weather that brings on the flu but time spent indoors without the benefit of fresh air. The website encourages parents to turn off the TV and take their children outside.
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Allies | Leadership
Grist – December 18, 2007
REI Chief Bemoans Overscheduled Kids
By Sarah Van Schagen
Sally Jewell, the head of outdoor-equipment retailer REI, says in a recent interview that children spend far too much of their time in front of computer or television screens. She credits Richard Louv with putting into words her concerns about young people today. The challenge, she says, is getting technology and nature to work together for their benefit.
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Research & Studies | Resource
Newsweek News – November 27, 2007
Got Nature? Researchers Find Strong Bones Require More than Milk Alone
By Lauran Neergaard
Researchers report that our sedentary lifestyle is largely to blame for another disturbing trend: the incidence of rickets in children appears to be on the rise. Possibly millions of seemingly healthy children are suffering from the condition. Researches blame an increase of time spent indoors, noting that exercise and sunlight are as important as calcium to building strong bones.
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National
Children & Nature get front page coverage in USA Weekend Magazine.
Mother Nature: Raising healthier kids. Getting your kids back in touch with the great outdoors can improve their health and well-being. Recess, soccer practice, the neighborhood playground -- all are great avenues 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 elemental: They need nature. [+]
Commentary
Deseret News – October 13, 2007
Today’s young people are wired and worried
By Joseph Cramer, M.D.
In today's childhood there is an overabundance of stimulation and a shortage of soothers. Meet Generation W — "w" for wired and worried. In this whirlwind of wires and wireless, author Joseph Cramer, M.D. offers four steps to wind down the worried.
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International
Calgary Herald – October 01, 2008
Canadian Report Sounds Alarm on Kids
By Rachel Naud
The nonprofit Active Healthy Kids Canada estimates that 90 percent of Canadian children are not meeting the current physical activity guidelines set for them. Even more surprising to some observers, the nonprofit says that a major reason children are not active is that they have forgotten how to play—that parents, and society in general, don’t encourage free play.
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Research & Studies
New York Times – July 16, 2008
Study: As Children Grow, Activity Slows
By Tara Parker-Pope
As reported in the New York Times, a new study captures in detail the dramatic declines in physical activity that occur as children get older. Whereas a nine-year-old spends an average of three hours a day walking, running, climbing, or otherwise in motion, a fifteen-year-old spends as little as 30 minutes a day engaged in any kind of physical activity. One possible reason for the decline: schools often curtail physical activity as children age.
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Commentary
Toronto Sun – July 13, 2008
Kids Should Be Free to Play, Author Says
By Marilyn Linton
The Toronto Sun talks with early-childhood expert Rae Pica about the importance of unstructured play in children’s lives. The author of A Running Start: How Play, Physical Activity and Free Time Create a Successful Child, Pica urges adults to let children find their own unique ways to entertain themselves, even if that means occasionally being bored. “Heaven forbid they get to adulthood,” she says, “and not know how to be alone with themselves and their thoughts.”
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National
Washington Post – June 03, 2008
Younger Children Need More Vitamin D
By Serena Gordon
At least 40 percent of U.S. infants and toddlers don’t get enough vitamin D, according to researchers from Children’s Hospital in Boston. Also known as the sunshine vitamin, vitamin D is produced naturally when the body reacts to sunlight, and too much time indoors and out of direct sunlight may be one of the factors contributing to vitamin D deficiency in young people.
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Allies | Resource
Miracle-Gro – April 09, 2008
Corporate Survey Looks at Benefits of Outdoor Time
The Miracle-Gro company is touting the results of a survey it conducted showing that while 84 percent of parents feel it’s important for young people to spend time outdoors, most admit that their children spend less time outdoors than they did as children. “By spending less time outdoors,” the company says, “people are endangering their connection with nature and depriving themselves of the health benefits of being outside and being active.” [+]
Commentary
Asheville Citizen-Times – March 10, 2008
A Reminder of Summer Camp’s Value
By Lockie Hunter
With children spending more and more time in front of computers and TV screens, the value of summer camp is perhaps greater than ever before. In addition to the opportunity it provides for children to explore nature and learn outdoors skills, it also helps them develop social skills and gain a new sense of independence.
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C&NN has designated April "Children & Nature Awareness Month." As part of this effort, we invited network members (like you) to list their April programs and share their strategies for building public awareness. Find out what's happening in your community on the C&NN Movement Map.
As part of our ongoing efforts to build the movement, the Children & Nature Network has published two new resources for leaders, organizers, and participants at the local, national, and international levels:
An annotated bibliography of 20 premier studies focusing on the children and nature connection.
