Does my child have a “vitamin Nature” deficiency?

Written by Rachel de Barros Oliveira, Ph.D. Candidate McGill University

You must be wondering what “vitamin Nature” is and why that it is so important to your child. Vitamin Nature or Vitamin N can be described as the time the individual spends in nature. In the last few years, we have all seen and felt the importance of nature, not only for kids but also for adults (for our mental and physical health).

The impact of nature on our well-being is not something new in research. With the modernization of society and the increased access to television, video games, computers, and the increased fear of leaving kids playing outside, researchers have been studying how the lack of time spent in nature can impact our health. But how can research measure the impact of vitamin N on our well-being?

Louise Chawla published a review (2015) entitle “The benefits of Nature Contact for Children” and this is the research that we will explore in this post. Chawla divides the impact of nature into 4 major health and developmental aspects that could be observed in different research.

Physical Health

Different studies show that children with high-quality outdoor spaces (in school, at home, or at the park) have better overall physical health including longer sleep at night, higher health ratings by their parents, and lower levels of blood pressure (Chawla, 2015). A study looked at neonatal weight and survival and found that residential greenness even had a protective effect on birth weight (Dzhambov, Dimitrova, and Dimitrakova 2014).

Green environments support children’s moderate and vigorous activity. Living close to a park (500-800 meters) has been associated with an increase in physical activity, including in children under medical treatment for obesity. The increase in physical activity leads to children having better physical fitness (measured by children being better at balance and higher scores on motor coordination tests) (Chawla, 2015).

Cognitive Functioning and Self-control

Children exposed to natural areas to play and explore have less impulsivity, and higher levels of concentration, and are less hyperactive than those who are not exposed to green areas at home, school, and other places (Chawla, 2015). Time in nature has been shown to reduce symptoms of ADHD (attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder). (Faber Taylor, Kuo, and Sullivan 2011).

Psychological Well-being

Four studies have shown that living close to green space can predict better mental health and emotional adjustment among children (this effect may vary according to family income and education) (Chawla, 2015). Time in nature was associated with lower rates of mental health disease in adults and children, whereas children had lower rates of depression.

Affiliation and Imaginative Play

Affiliation here is defined as the ability to live with and toward other people, engage in various forms of social interaction, imagine the situation of another, and show concern for others. “Natural areas provide for more imaginative, constructive, sensory, and socially cooperative play than asphalt, flat expanses of lawn, or built play equipment” (Chawla, 2015). Children exposed to natural/green areas in the schoolyard exhibit more imaginative role-playing and explore more the environment, especially if they are encouraged to do so.

Vitamin Nature is known to be one of the most important vitamins out there. As the review shows, It has an impact on every age (from children to adults) and influences (in the short and long term) our physical and mental health. The events of the last years had a big impact on how society spends time and the importance of socialization and green areas to play, relax and explore. With life coming back to a more normal speed, hopefully, people will be allocated more time to get their vitamin N.

Hope you got some time to be outdoors today!