WSJ: Mom Was Right: Go Outside

[IIOY]

I realize this is preaching to the choir around here, but this article has some interesting information about the benefits of outdoor time.

Humans are quickly becoming an indoor species.

In part, this is a byproduct of urbanization, as most people now live in big cities. Our increasing reliance on technology is also driving the trend, with a recent study concluding that American children between the ages of 8 and 18 currently spend more than four hours a day interacting with technology.

As a result, there's no longer time for nature: From 2006 to 2010, the percentage of young children regularly engaging in outdoor recreation fell by roughly 15 percentage points.

This shift is occurring even as scientists outline the mental benefits of spending time in natural settings. According to the latest research, untamed landscapes have a restorative effect, calming our frazzled nerves and refreshing the tired cortex. After a brief exposure to the outdoors, people are more creative, happier and better able to focus. If there were a pill that delivered these same results, we'd all be popping it.

Consider a forthcoming paper by psychologist Ruth Ann Atchley and her colleagues at the University of Kansas. To collect their data, the researchers partnered with the nonprofit Outward Bound, which takes people on extended expeditions into nature. To measure the mental benefits of hiking in the middle of nowhere, Dr. Atchley gave 60 backpackers a standard test of creativity before they hit the trail. She gave the same test to a different group of hikers four days into their journey.

The results were surprising: The hikers in the midst of nature showed a nearly 50% increase in performance on the test of creativity, and the effect held across all age groups.

"There's a growing advantage over time to being in nature," says Dr. Atchley. "We think that it peaks after about three days of really getting away, turning off the cellphone. It's when you have an extended period of time surrounded by that softly fascinating environment that you start seeing all kinds of positive effects in how your mind works."

This latest study builds on a growing body of evidence demonstrating the cognitive benefits of nature. Although many of us find the outdoors alienating and uncomfortable—the bugs, the bigger critters, the lack of climate control—the brain reacts to natural settings by, essentially, sighing in relief.

In 2009, a team of psychologists led by Marc Berman at the University of Michigan outfitted undergraduates with GPS receivers. Some of the students took a stroll in an arboretum, while others walked around the busy streets of downtown Ann Arbor.

.The subjects were then run through a battery of psychological tests. People who had walked through the natural setting were in a better mood and scored significantly higher on tests of attention and short-term memory, which involved repeating a series of numbers backward. In fact, just glancing at a photograph of nature led to measurable improvements, at least when compared with pictures of cities.

This also helps to explain an effect on children with attention-deficit disorder. Several studies show that, when surrounded by trees and animals, these children are less likely to have behavioral problems and are better able to focus on a particular task.

Scientists have found that even a relatively paltry patch of nature can confer cognitive benefits. In the late 1990s, Frances Kuo, director of the Landscape and Human Health Laboratory at the University of Illinois, began interviewing female residents in the Robert Taylor Homes, a massive housing project on the South Side of Chicago.

Dr. Kuo and her colleagues compared women who were randomly assigned to various apartments. Some had a view of nothing but concrete sprawl, the blacktop of parking lots and basketball courts. Others looked out on grassy courtyards filled with trees and flower beds. Dr. Kuo then measured the two groups on a variety of tasks, from basic tests of attention to surveys that looked at how the women were handling major life challenges. She found that living in an apartment with a view of greenery led to significant improvements in every category.

Cities are here to stay; so are smartphones. What this research suggests, however, is that we need to make time to escape from everyone else, to explore those parts of the world that weren't designed for us. It's when we are lost in the wild that the mind is finally at home.

[marynjoe]

I believe it. Feel like crap? Sit outside for a few minutes. Nature is a natural antidepressant.

[cotner]

I agree and am doing it as I type, is that bad or just half bad. I am sick, the family went to my parents for our weekly Sunday dinner, I stayed home to relax and not infect everyone. I made a cup of ice water and am sitting in my half redone torn-up backyard dreaming of how great it will be when it's finished and watching robins dig up worms from the mud. I can wait to have my peaceful backyard to unwind and watch my kids play.

[sparrowsong]

I've had this book sitting on my shelf for about a year now. richardlouv.com/books/last-child/ Might make a great book club book.

I 100% believe in the need for earth under bare feet and starry skies over head to have complete mental health.

[heightsyankee]

Sadly, my backyard is concrete. We do have some beautiful 100 year old trees, though. In a few weeks the summer heat in south Texas will keep us inside more, so for now they go out there every afternoon after school, even if they just sit there.

[sam20]

We get outside pretty much every day. My kid would drive me insane if we didn't.

[vccake]

We just went tent camping with 11 kids and 11 adults. I'm good for a year.

[statlerwaldorf]

I believe it. I just wish I didn't have allergies. I would spend a lot more time outside.

[SmartyCat]

May 27, 2012 21:42:57 GMT -5 vccake said:

We just went tent camping with 11 kids and 11 adults. I'm good for a year.

Hahahaha. Maybe you need some time in nature ALONE?

[ESF]

Thanks for this. I'm going to remember this. Ever since getting a dog, I've been outside much more and I feel it's made a difference. I'm going to userhis as a reminder to soak in nature a little mote when we are out. It makes sense.

[Knight]

My child would live outside if he could. For now we spend the mornings outside because it's too hot in the afternoon. He helps me garden and tries to run into the road or take leaps off the porch.

[Deleted]

May 27, 2012 18:15:46 GMT -5 IIOY said:

In part, this is a byproduct of urbanization, as most people now live in big cities.

I'd blame air conditioning (and tv, computers, of course) a lot more than urbanization. People always lived in big cities but before air conditioning they were driven outside to try to catch a breeze (or an open fire hydrant) when the heat got too stifling inside. Along with all the other distractions that people have now to keep them indoors, our houses are much more comfortable.

[heyjude]

I love the outdoors. Always have.

[bronxgirl]

Even though I know this to be true, I have a hard time following through. the good thing about having a kid is that I'm much more likely to spend time outdoors.

[josieposy]

May 27, 2012 20:30:56 GMT -5 sparrowsong said:

I've had this book sitting on my shelf for about a year now. richardlouv.com/books/last-child/ Might make a great book club book.

I 100% believe in the need for earth under bare feet and starry skies over head to have complete mental health.

I have that book too! I keep meaning to read it.

[Deleted]

I get comments all the time about how much time my boys spend outside. They would be unbearable if I didn't let them play in the creek for hours.

[Deleted]

My wife has said on may occasions that I am a much happier man since we moved to NC, where I am surrounded by nature. I certainly enjoy my life much more, now that I have a nice garden and plants and trees and blue skies etc etc

[Deleted]

May 27, 2012 22:55:21 GMT -5 bronxgirl said:

Even though I know this to be true, I have a hard time following through. the good thing about having a kid is that I'm much more likely to spend time outdoors.

I'm already finding this too, even with an infant. I take him for walks for something to do since there isn't much I can do with a baby. Plus, I have 12 lbs to lose

[hopecounts]

Totally agree with this.
DD and I spend most of the morning outside before the heat gets bad.
1) it's good for both of us
2) she takes a much better nap after running around outside so I get me time after my housework is done while she sleeps!

[emilyj]

One of the things I love most about riding my bike so much is that it ensures I am going to get outside almost every day. I have always loved being outside.

[eclaires]

We finally got some outdoor furniture, so I'm even more pleased that I can sit outside comfortably (on my fat ass) while my kids run around. Yesterday I laid outside in the sun, and let Jackson shoot me with a water gun every so often, while Scarlett napped. It put me in such a good mood.

Seriously, though, even though the heat is pretty unbearable (IMO - my kids don't seem to mind), we spend several hours outside each day and have been doing so since about February (when the weather warmed up).

MH thinks it's dumb that I spend $300 every summer to join a local pool. But, the kids and I go every morning until naptime most days. It's not educational, or anything, but it puts us all in good moods and wears them out. It's how I spent my summers as a kid (at the pool) and I enjoy it a lot.

[mxolisi]

I don't know that urbanization is really the problem if the issue is spending time "outside" and not "spending time in the wilderness."

I spend much more time outside than my exurban and rural family members mostly because a) I don't have central AC so I spend a lot of time in my lovely backyard and on my front porch and b) because I walk and bike almost everywhere I go except in the dead of winter. We put 4,000 miles on our car in the last year and 20% of those miles were incurred in one trip to a wedding in NW Connecticut, and an additional 50% were weekend trips to see the in-laws and trips to IAD to pick up/drop off myself or the husband.

I love spending time in my backyard. I haven't really been in the house all weekend. Now that I have my Big Green Egg, I don't even need to go in to use the kitchen! But my backyard isn't really "the wilderness" either. Though we do have an alley-dwelling raccoon of epic proportion.

[IIOY]

May 28, 2012 14:32:01 GMT -5 @mxolisi said:

I don't know that urbanization is really the problem if the issue is spending time "outside" and not "spending time in the wilderness." .

I read the article as focusing on being surrounded by natural structures rather than merely being outside,
i.e., there is greater mental benefit to walking through a forest than, say, down an urban sidewalk. However, and speaking as someone who spends a tremendous amount of time outdoors in warmer weather thanks to having two monkeys who need to burn off energy, I don't think anyone can dispute that being outside is, under many circumstances, better than the alternative.

/five hours and counting at the pool today

[IIOY]

Also, can I just randomly add how much I hate having to deal with sunscreen? The stickiness, the messiness, the reapplications, the clogged pores, the weird water run-off patterns on the skin, the random white patches on skin that make one look like a crazed clown...

[vccake]

May 27, 2012 22:06:53 GMT -5 SmartyCat said:

May 27, 2012 21:42:57 GMT -5 vccake said:

We just went tent camping with 11 kids and 11 adults. I'm good for a year.

Hahahaha. Maybe you need some time in nature ALONE?

I need Tylenol PM and a dark room.

[IIOY]

We used to use a fabulous sunscreen called Dri-Blok by Banana Boat. It went on wet but dried like a powder and left no discernible residue. Everyone I know who used it loved it, so naturally it was discontinued.

[sparrowsong]

May 28, 2012 15:35:11 GMT -5 asdfjkl said:

Since I was diagnosed with melanoma, I've been wearing a daily SPF on my face. It's called Anthelios 60 made by La Roche Posay. It's not cheap, but you only need it for your face. When it dries, it feels like a light powder and make up goes on very well over it. It still tastes like sunscreen, which is the worst when you get it on your lips, but other than that, it's pretty much perfect. And it's better than cancer.

I'm going to have to try that. I use one of their foaming facial gel for cleansing and love it. Expensive maybe, but it has lasted me over a year now such a little dab of it foams up enough to use at each use.

I haven't had melanoma, but I've had basal cell cancer 6 times, the first time when I was 18. Sunscreen is important.

[eddy]

I grew up on a farm so I have this very odd drive to be outside as much as possible. I just have it ingrained in my head that summers were for being out from dawn to dusk. And going to the swimming pool during the summer is the best!

[ttt]

Today it was 90 something degrees and humid as hell, so I'm not in much of a "yay outdoors" mood at the moment.

[2vermont]

May 28, 2012 18:57:33 GMT -5 ttt said:

Today it was 90 something degrees and humid as hell, so I'm not in much of a "yay outdoors" mood at the moment.

Yeah, I think the idea is to get fresh air and 90 degree humid air doesn't qualify.