As we promised you yesterday, today we present the second part of the interview with Soledad Román, who as you know is the general director of the Roger Torné Foundation. We will reflect on the disconnection of children with nature, and of the problems (in addition to respiratory diseases) that this could cause.
I invite you to continue reading, because it is a very interesting topic that we can all learn from. Yesterday we left it telling that it is not healthy for children to grow up in a polluted environment, and talking about the increasing incidence of respiratory diseases and allergies in childhood… Peques and More .- I wonder if the disconnection we currently have with Nature is part of the problem, and if parents should try an approach.
Soledad Román.- In the first place it is possible to distinguish the disconnection with Nature from unhealthy cities; because we cannot consider Nature as the 'lost paradise'. In our century more than 50% of the world's population lives in cities, therefore what we have to aspire to is a healthy city.
What is a healthy city? a place with natural spaces, parks, squares with land and trees. It is evident that with our lifestyle, it is not always possible to go to Nature to live it, but what it is about is that children have access to spaces where to play, run and breathe fresh air, without being surrounded by cars .
And on the other hand it is very important for children to be in contact with Nature once or twice a month. That way they learn live about the changes of Nature, and they are allowed experimentation.
One thing is the Nature Deficit, and another thing is the cities in which Nature has no place. The desirable thing would be to make the cities 'green', therefore we should not raise this issue as a dichotomy. A city must also be 'nature', because wild Nature is hardly compatible with the daily life of many people.
The doctor in environmental psychology José Antonio Corraliza conducted a study in schools in Madrid, to show that children who go to schools with 'green' playgrounds (friendlier therefore), withstand greater stress at all levels; and emotionally they are better prepared than those that develop in a 'hard' environment.
A city must also be 'nature', because wild Nature is hardly compatible with the daily life of many people
P and M. - What other problems could arise from the lack of contact with Nature or the lack of 'nature' within cities?
MR.- We have already mentioned stress, and it can also be said that adolescents have a lower subjective perception of well-being if they do not have this approach. We can also talk about a lower creative capacity, and the absence of curiosity in children, who feel more desire to explore in contact with different elements and natural phenomena.
As another problem derived from the Nature Deficit, Dr. Corraliza points out the lack of involvement in social relations of intensity. Not to mention that Nature invites to physical exercise because of the possibilities it offers, and it can be said that one of the factors that influence the rates of overweight and obesity of children, is precisely that they perform less than one hour of physical activity daily .
The Nature Deficit has psychological and physical effects
In our programs we encourage children to continually use their senses, we try above all to do manual work, because we know that this activates areas of the brain that cannot be activated by a technological device. In general, children are overstimulated and continuously receive information that does not rarely overlap each other, but they have little chance of exercising the senses naturally. In addition, in our country we are exceeding the daily recommendation of two hours a day in front of a screen. This could also be a consequence, even if it is indirect of the 'lack of Nature'.
Most of the common diseases in children are a consequence of our lifestyle. We can change our lifestyle if we consider it, giving children a healthy life.
PyM.- Do you think the current environmental situation can be reversed? If yes, what part of responsibility is attributed to the population?
MR.- It is a very complex question to answer. For the experts with whom we interact, and according to what I have been able to read, there are aspects related to climate change (specifically I can quote Dr. Bernstein), that are no longer recoverable, but others are. If our approach is optimistic, we will be prepared to look for solutions.
People have a lot of individual responsibility, and we must assume it, and that will be very noticeable in environmental health, and consequently in children's health. Families, parents should understand that changing the current situation also depends on us. If we act as individuals, as a civil society, this will have an impact on the authorities to take action.
An example of this is traffic, 80 percent of the pollution in cities is due to road traffic, the approach should not be to wait for regulation, or reach the limit of an unsustainable environment. Is it necessary to always travel by car to all sides?
Most of the common diseases in children are a consequence of our lifestyle. We can change our lifestyle if we consider it, giving children a healthy life.. Also, if we teach them healthy habits, these habits will last; and they will also be able to transmit them, so that the Earth could be a more habitable place. In this sense, doing nothing would be the worst option.
In addition to the content of the interview, I would like to add a question that Soledad pointed out during our telephone conversation. Wondering if being able to enjoy Nature is a question of rights for children, he answered yes, also indicating that adults do not usually consider living in cities from the needs of children, because there are specific situations that do not affect us. He gave the example of a father / mother carrying the baby in a car seat, while he receives directly the smoke coming from the exhaust pipes of the cars, since it is at another height than its parent. It serves as an example to illustrate that perhaps if the elders put ourselves in the place of the children, we would be better able to claim, ask for changes, press for the kids to have more land parks, or have more pedestrian areas, etc.
I already said it yesterday, but I must once again thank Soledad for his collaboration and his involvement in the work of the Foundation. Thanks also to Marta Roses, and Isabel Sánchez, who has greatly facilitated our work, and also keeps me informed of the activities.
I hope you enjoyed it too, and above all, that these reflections help us to consider our role and our responsibility as adults in the health of children.
