It is one of the evils of the new century. We are increasingly connected to technology and more disconnected from nature. Our children are no stranger to this change of life and many of them suffer from what is known as Nature deficit disorder, whose most obvious characteristic is an inadequate relationship between us and the environment. Is a persistent disconnection from nature and everything that contact with nature entails: walks, sports, evasion, etc.
Nature is necessary for the proper development of the little ones. The natural environment is the environment where children discover and explore freely without the need for anything else, it is something that cannot be replaced by technology as wonderful as it may be.
What is Nature's deficit disorder?
Another disorder? You may have never heard of him, but the term was first named in 2008 by Richard Louv in his book "Last Child in the Woods" and gave rise to a movement that raises the need for direct contact and connection with the natural environment. It was followed by educators and parents seeking to restore the link between humans and nature, and especially among children and nature.
The professor of Environmental Psychology of the UAM, José Antonio Corraliza, says that "Nature Deficit Disorder (TDN) is part of a set of problems that, generically, are called psychothermal diseases, which are disorders that have their origin in a deficit or pathological relationship with the environment in which we live "
And he proposes to recover that lost naturalistic memory. "The green is not a fashion, but a necessity fruit of nostalgia, since water, animals and vegetation are part of the ecosystem where we have had evolutionary success as a species. In cities, however, we inhabit for just minutes , in comparison with the immense history of Humanity. So our nervous system is not yet adapted to them, where there are almost no natural elements, and it becomes oversaturated. "
It is a favorable and necessary contact, since children have much to learn from it and it provides them with an environment conducive to experience important feelings for your physical and emotional development.
The contact with nature makes children stronger when facing stress situations, gives them autonomy and feeling of freedom, not forgetting that playing outdoors improves concentration, cardiovascular health and promotes respiratory health, among others Benefits.
Symptoms of Nature's deficit disorder
Do you not sometimes feel that you have a need to leave the city and go to open spaces (countryside, sea, mountains) to disconnect from the world and contact nature? Well, the same thing happens to children, although they don't know how to express it, and many of them, as they practically didn't live it or realize they need it.
The lack of concentration, anxiety, stress and irritability They are clear symptoms that we need a recharge of nature. Respiratory diseases are aggravated in urban settings.
Other signs or consequences of this disorder are obesity, asthma, hyperactivity or lack of vitamin D. They are not minor symptoms, since the health of our children is affected for the lack of contact with the natural environment.
The example is key
As everything, the love for nature is taught from the example. It is not necessary to live in the countryside (not all of us do), but to look for the opportunity to go out to the countryside, the mountains or the beach with some frequency. We are responsible for that learn to communicate with nature, let them play freely and let them feel the need for contact. An action that also makes them environmental defenders.
It seems that nowadays the rhythm of nature cannot compete with the dizzying speed that technology proposes. Children can hold a few conversations at once while playing or surfing the internet. The rhythms are different, but it is important from time to time to disconnect and recover the rhythm slow of the nature.
Running through the countryside, walking through the forest, climbing a tree, bathing in a river, picking up dry leaves, observing how ants work or playing to identify birds are experiences that, however silly they may seem, enrich our lives. little ones. There are a thousand activities that we can do with children in Nature and that will bring us countless benefits.
So, think no more. At all times of the year there are entertaining plans to do with children in the middle of Nature. Proposals of rural tourism, routes to do as a family, visit a farm or even if it is not to go on an excursion to the nearest mountain, any excuse is valid to recover contact with nature.
Photos | iStockphoto
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