A
Natural Solution for Attention Deficit Is Right outside
Your Door
Some
solutions are so obvious that you don’t see them at
first. This appears to be true as researchers study the
apparent link between aerobic activity, outdoor stimulation,
and its positive effects on children and adults with ADHD.
From nature walks to climbing trees to canoe trips, going
outside and moving could be an effective and fun natural
solution for attention deficit.
Using
nature and exercise to fight the symptoms of ADHD is not
a totally new concept. In his book Nature's Ritalin for
the Marathon Mind: Nurturing Your ADHD Child with Exercise,
author Stephen C. Putnam says that, when Ritalin was first
being prescribed to “problem” children in the
seventies and eighties, boarding schools found that exercise
worked much better for ADHD than any prescription drug.
Some schools used long, strenuous nature hikes, soccer games,
and other outdoor sports as a natural solution for attention
deficit with surprisingly good results.
Later,
a study in 2004 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
found that spending time in natural “green”
settings improved ADHD symptoms for children from ages 5
to 18. The study’s natural solution for attention
deficit was easy—they simply took children outside
to spend plenty of time in parks, backyards, and other tree-lined
areas. According to parents, kids in the study who spent
more time outside were better able to remain focused on
completing tasks, following directions, and resisting distractions.
When
you think about it, spending time in the great outdoors
as a natural solution for attention deficit makes perfect
sense. First, strenuous physical activity helps curb hyperactivity
by giving children and adults a chance to burn off their
excess energy. Second, outdoor areas provide more stimuli
for the active mind than more sterile indoor and urban areas.
Finally, outdoor sports are fantastic for building self
esteem, leadership abilities, and self confidence. Perhaps
the best perks for using outdoor green space as a natural
solution for attention deficit is that it has no side effects,
and it usually comes free of charge.
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