Laura Payne, of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Office of Recreation and Park Resources Department of Recreation, Sport & Tourism, recently sent the IPRA a great news article that ran in the Courier News.

Children spending more time indoors
By Mike Danahey, Courier News, Staff Writer

After Lauri Schumacher and her family moved from Elgin to Sleepy Hollow last summer, her new neighbors were surprised at what she was allowing her young twin daughter and son to do.

Because Schumacher felt her children were living in a safe, affluent, low-traffic area, “I let them roam the neighborhood,” she said. “I can keep an eye on them wherever they went from the house.”

Schumacher, 40, recalled the reaction of some neighbors. They would tell her, “We saw your kids. You’re letting them walk around all by themselves?”

But she noted that when she was growing up, “My mom would say, ‘Go outside.’ We’d be there all day, all summer long. Kids need to be outside. They need unstructured time and time to use their imaginations.”

As open space and farm fields become subdivisions, there is research that backs up Schumacher’s sentiments. There’s also evidence of how challenging it is these days to get children to play outdoors.

Some of that information comes from one of Schumacher’s childhood friends from Mount Prospect, Laura Payne, who is a professor in the Department of Recreation, Sport & Tourism at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Payne shared an anecdote about another friend’s daughter who told her the only thing the girl liked to do outside was go to the pool. Her reason: There is no TV in other places.

Studies show the girl is not alone in her thinking: “They like being inside, it’s what they prefer,” said Payne.

Getting outdoors important
Children and parents in many homes — particularly in better-off families — often lead very scheduled lives, with time set aside for school, sports, music lessons and even vacation, but little unstructured time, Payne said. There also is an exaggerated fear of dangers lurking outside the home.

But it shouldn’t be that way, according to the experts.

“We don’t know for sure how or why, but everything we do know shows that spending time in green space is important for physical and mental health,” said Frances Kuo, an environmental psychologist and director of the landscape and human health laboratory at UIUC.

Kuo looked at how spending time in green space benefits children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The theory, Kuo said, is that when humans are surrounded by nature, the part of the brain that deals with all the stimuli of modern life gets a chance to rest and recharge.

She added that there also is evidence that having nature around, as when reading in a backyard instead of a windowless room, enhances concentration.

Of course, being active outdoors is good for physical fitness, too.

The number of overweight children in America has tripled during the past two decades. Dr. Gilbert Liu of the Indiana University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, in Indianapolis worked on studies that showed a relationship between obesity, green space and possibly even a child’s proximity to fresh fruits and vegetables.

Researchers looked at the residences of 7,334 children ages 3 to 18 who were patients at the university’s clinic in 2000. They found that for those who lived in an urban setting, the closer they were to greenery, the less likely they were to be overweight. For those living in suburbs, the closer they lived to a supermarket, the less likely they were to be overweight.

Liu said one theory on why a nearby grocery store might make a difference is its availability of fresh produce.

In his 2005 book, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder , San Diego-based author Richard Louv examined what he sees as a necessary relationship between people and the great outdoors.

“Nature-deficit disorder is not a medical diagnosis, but a description of the human costs of alienation from nature. Among them: diminished use of the senses, attention difficulties and higher rates of physical and emotional illnesses. This disorder damages children; it also shapes adults, families, whole communities and the future of nature itself. Yet, exciting new studies show us the benefits — biological, cognitive and spiritual — when we give the gift of nature,” he wrote.

Inside most of the time
In February, Louv told the U.S. House of Representatives Interior and Environmental Subcommittee that in a typical week, only 6 percent of children ages 9 to 13 play outside on their own. And the average child spends only about 30 minutes outdoors each week.

Still, Louv said he remains hopeful.

“Many of us have sensed that something has been taken from our lives,” he said. “We know our kids are missing out. I think that once parents and other adults understand not only what is being lost but also what can be gained by reconnecting our kids to nature, that great change will follow.”

To that end, a “leave no child inside” movement is taking root in several parts of the country, including here in the Midwest. Chicago Wilderness, a consortium of 214 public and private organizations with a common interest in conservation, has taken up the cause.

“Our members are experts in connecting people with nature. It’s what we are all about,” said Chicago Wilderness Executive Director Melinda Pruett-Jones.

Pruett-Jones said Wilderness Chicago has set up a Web site, kidsoutside.info, as a resource to help parents get children back outside. There will be an August meeting in Minnesota for groups from across the country on what the next steps should be for the initiative.

She said there is reason beyond personal well-being to reconnect people with the outdoors: “If kids aren’t exposed to nature, they are not going to care enough to protect it in the future.”

Thank you Laura for sending us this article. If you have any articles or research information that you’d like shared on the IPRA blog please email Matt White, Marketing & Communications Director of IPRA.