Nature Deficit Disorder

Recently, a number of documentaries have been published alleging that teens and children today lack adequate exposure to nature.  The term, "Nature Deficit Disorder", first stated by Richard Louv in his book, "Last Child in The Woods" has become the phrase associated with the lack of outdoor play in children.  According to Louv, "Kids who do play outside are less likely to get sick, to be stressed or become aggressive, and are more adaptable to life’s unpredictable turns." (Egan, 2012).  What sort of evidence supports going outside more?  Studies completed by Atchley & Strayer (2012) on individuals going on hikes state: 

"Our results demonstrate that there is a cognitive advantage to be realized if we spend time immersed in a natural setting. We anticipate that this advantage comes from an increase in exposure to natural stimuli that are both emotionally positive and low-arousing and a corresponding decrease in exposure to attention demanding technology, which regularly requires that we attend to sudden events, switch amongst tasks, maintain task goals, and inhibit irrelevant actions or cognitions"

  Despite an apparent correlation between nature and increased cognitive advantage the study failed to  conclude if exposure to nature or decreased use of technology resulted in a cognitive advantage.  Do you think kids aren't exposed to enough nature?  

Below are two trailers for documentaries addressing "Nature Deficit Disorder". 

Trailer 1:  "Mother Nature's Child"

Trailer 2:  "Play Again"

Works Cited:

Atchley, R., & Strayer, D. (2012, December 12). Creativity in the Wild: Improving Creative Reasoning through Immersion in Natural Settings. Retrieved November 20, 2014, from http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0051474

Egan, T. (2012, March 29). Nature-Deficit Disorder. Retrieved November 20, 2014, from http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/29/nature-deficit-disorder/?_r=0