Nature Connections Decrease Mental Health Issues

03/22/2019

Nature Connections Decrease Mental Health Issues

Complete absorption by young children is the number one foundation of transformational learning, and yet it cannot be scheduled in. We need to slow down and be present for that magic to emerge.
Wendy Ostroff, developmental psychologist

On the Adventure Journal website, Justin Housman describes a recent study from Aarhus University in Denmark where “researchers found that being raised surrounded by nature as a child meant a 55 percent lower incidence of developing mental health issues as adults. Even better, it seemed that the more time children spent in nature, the better as far as mental health outcomes were concerned...

‘If we were talking about a new medicine that had this kind of effect the buzz would be huge,’ said Kelly Lambert, a neuroscientist at the University of Richmond. ‘But these results suggest that being able to go for a walk in the park as a kid is just as impactful.’”

Source: “Study: Kids Who Spend Time in Nature Become Happier Adults,” by Justin Housman, adventure-journal.com, February 27, 2019

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