Nature-Deficit Disorder: Fewer Children Play Outdoors
The Times Herald-Record

August 30, 2006 -- Nathan Brooks-Bushaw, 7, was grinning after he finished a two-week baseball camp at San Jose State University — he was down to the last important item on his summer to-do list.

"Play video games!" he shouted gleefully.

Ask most kids if they have played an Xbox, created a MySpace account or watched the movie "High School Musical."

Easy.

Now ask them to describe poison oak, if they've seen a wild salamander or which direction lichen grows on trees. Good luck getting answers.

One childhood advocacy expert calls it "nature-deficit disorder" and argues that American children have lost their connection to the natural world. The result, says author Richard Louv, is an epidemic of obesity, learning disabilities and depression that could be remedied if kids just got outside more.