As green space disappears to urbanisation and advances in technology mean a tightened grip of our fingers to keyboards, we literally go outside less and less. (She says, tap tapping away on a keyboard.) For a grown mind, the deprivation of outside is one thing, but for a growing mind, research is showing that nature deprivation is making children sick, dumb, depressed and obese.
The question above was asked by the person who coined the term, "Nature-deficit disorder" - author Richard Louv. He has used countless pieces of research to outline the benefits of a strong nature connection for our children. From boosting mental acuity and creativity to reducing obesity and depression, from promoting health and wellness to simply having fun.
Children now spend 90 percent of their time indoors and over 50 hours a week on some device. Currently only a third of children play outdoors in Australia, and a quarter of children are overweight or obese. According to 2017 Australian government stats, in 2014 - 15, 1 in 5 (20%) children aged 2 - 4 were overweight or obese - 11% were overweight but not obese, and 9% were obese. About 1 in 4 (27%) children and adolescents aged 5 - 17 were overweight or obese - 20% were overweight but not obese, and 7% were obese. Clearly getting outside isn't the only contributing factor to this state of affairs, but it's part of the spiral.
Play Australia launched a plan in November 2019 to open 1,000 streets across Australia to help get kids outside. The group has an extensive library on many simple, actionable ways parents and educators of young children can incorporate nature back into the lives of children both in school and at home.
As a parent whose children have grown up in an urban environment in this era, I know how hard it is going toe to toe with technology, but in the end, ring fencing a part of our lives for nature is clearly important. Many of us don't need to read a book to know that getting our children outside is important - it's negotiating with them! Louv points out that it's not just children - tapping into the restorative powers of the natural world can boost mental acuity and creativity; promote health and wellness; build smarter and more sustainable businesses, communities, and economies; and ultimately strengthen human bonds. Maybe we first need to hold a mirror to ourselves.