ADHD? Get Outside!
August 30, 2004
(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A new study shows children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder can reduce their number of symptoms simply by enjoying nature.
Researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign studied more than 300 boys and more than 80 girls with ADHD. The children performed a wide range of activities both indoors and outdoors. Researchers then interviewed the children’s parents.
Results show when children performed the activities outdoors, they had fewer symptoms than when they performed the same activities indoors. Children experienced the largest reduction in symptoms when they performed the activities in green outdoor settings, such as at a park or in a backyard.
Frances E. Kuo, Ph.D., co-author of the study, says, “In each of 56 different comparisons, green outdoor activities received more positive ratings than did activities taking place in other settings, and this difference was significant or marginally significant in 54 of the 56 analyses.”
ADHD is a neurological disorder that affects about 2 million school-aged children in the United States. Medications available for ADHD work for most kids, but not all. Now, researchers say their study shows a simple “green dose” could be substituted for an afternoon medication.
Authors of the study conclude, “I think we’re on the track of something really important, something that could affect a lot of lives in a very substantial way. This may offer a way to help manage ADHD symptoms that is readily available, doesn’t have any stigma associated with it, doesn’t cost anything, and doesn’t have any side effects.”
SOURCE: To be published in an upcoming issue of the American Journal of Public Health
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