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Connecting Kids with Nature Again

September 17, 2008 - AUGUSTA -- Children spending less time outdoors is a "national crisis."

That's what Larry Selzer said about the focus of a Maine conference on Oct. 2. And, as the chief executive officer of the Conservation Fund and a member of The National Forum on Children and Nature, Selzer, the conference's keynote speaker, understands the problem.

"This issue is universal across the country," said Selzer, from his office in Arlington, Va. "The staggering divide that we now see between children and nature is prevalent in urban and rural communities, and in affluent and poor communities. It is something we have to address in every corner of the country, and change the direction of the country in respect to children and nature.

"People are now calling it a new social movement, this leave-no-child-inside movement. But, any social movement requires staying power. This is not short-term. The way we've built our communities since World War II has been to turn our backs on the natural surroundings."

The interest in getting youth outside came on the heels of Richard Louv's national best-seller, "Last Child in the Woods," which documented how the information age has driven children inside and away from nature, and, as a result, activity.

The conference at the Augusta Civic Center, called the "Governor's Conference on Youth and the Natural World," is the first step to find answers in Maine for what has become a serious crisis in children's health, said Eliza Townsend, the Maine Department of Conservation's deputy commissioner.

The consequences of this trend will one day affect all of us, Selzer said.

One in five children is clinically obese; 3 million children under the age of 11 are treated for depression; and one in three are on some form of behavioral drugs, Selzer said.

The result in 20 years when these children join the work force will be frightening, Selzer said. "What will it be like when health-care costs balloon?" he asked.

The fact that Maine is the 10th highest state in overweight high school students is reason enough to gather together outdoor leaders to try to find answers now to these mounting problems, Townsend said.

"Here in Maine, there is specifically a lot to lose because of our identify as a state with an economy that is intertwined with the natural world," Townsend said.

"We have to ask ourselves: Who are going to lead kayak expeditions in 20 years, or lead birding hikes, or be Maine guides, or have sporting camps if we don't have the next generation to care about the outdoors?"

Selzer said changing society's indifference to nature does not have to be expensive -- it just has to be done wisely.

The National Forum on Children and Nature has been studying the issue for more than a year, and Selzer said will be rolling out 30 national initiatives directed at changing the way people think about spending time outdoors.

Selzer said the cost of inspiring social change does not necessarily have to be borne by public agencies, and the answers do not necessarily lie out in the wilderness.

Outdoor opportunities, he said, simply need to be made accessible to those who live in cities.

"By 2050, 85 percent (of Americans) will live in cities. So how do we bring nature back to where kids are if we are to develop a lifelong connection? When one in three adults are being treated for diabetes and that's where we're heading, with 20 million (Americans) diabetics in the next 10 years, the situation is untenable," Selzer said. "What if all pediatricians wrote prescriptions for outdoor activities?"

At the conference on Oct. 2, presenters from across the state will give seminars inside and outside the civic center. It's only a start, a place for those who are concerned to connect and talk, Townsend said.

"The reason for the conference is to get everyone engaged in deciding that this issue is important," Townsend said.

DEIRDRE FLEMING, Portland Press Herald, September 11, 2008


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