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 ADD natural treatments 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.