Acadia Park Chief Promoting Leave No Child Inside

Mount Desert Islander – October 24, 2008

Park superintendent Sheridan Steele will speak next week to Department of Interior employees on the compelling health, economic and social reasons why the park service and society in general should ensure that no child is left inside.

In addition to organizing a statewide conference in May 2007, Mr. Steele has been raising awareness about the extent of the crisis first reported by Richard Louv in his book “Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit.”

Mr. Steele recently spoke at the governor’s conference “Take It Outside,” a conference attended by approximately 400 professionals and others interested in getting children active outdoors. College of the Atlantic President David Hales also was on a panel at the conference.

Acadia National Park has developed a children’s bill of rights – a bill modeled after the recently adopted California children’s bill of rights. “Every child should have the opportunity to see a sunrise from the top of Cadillac and play in tide pools,” said Mr. Steele.

In his upcoming presentation, Mr. Steele, as he has done in other presentations, will highlight research on the detrimental effects on children between the ages of 8 and 18 of not only spending less time outside but of not spending that time in unstructured activity.

“In a report last year, the American Academy of Pediatrics stated that unstructured play is essential for health development – such play provides therapeutic value for youth with attention deficit disorder, reduces stress and promotes weight loss,” said Mr. Steele.

Another benefit of outside play, as reported in a study by researchers at the University of Cincinnati, is an increase in vitamin D from sunshine. The researchers reported that today children have weaker bone density—an effect not only of less vitamin D from sunshine but also from a lack of milk and exercise. According to a Mayo Clinic study, said Mr. Steele, children break their bones more often today than in the previous four decades. Mayo’s data show an increase in broken bones among girls at 56 percent and boys at 32 percent.

Another disturbing trend, said Mr. Steele, is that recent studies have shown one-third of the 74 million children under age 18 in the U.S. are either dangerously overweight or obese. This number represents a 300 percent increase in just the last 10 years. “The Center for Disease Control says the current generation of youth may be the first to live shorter lives than their parents because of growing health issues with a sedentary lifestyle,” said Mr. Steele.

A number of factors contribute to the declining interest in outdoors. These include more urbanization, cable television, single parent households, increased computer use, a national obsession with electronics, video screens in cars, increasing travel costs, children’s need for instant gratification, trend toward competition and skill building at the expense of idle play, focus on pop culture rather than natural wonders, and less open space.

Increasing open space, particularly in urban areas, is one of the objectives of the Trust for Public Lands in Maine, said its director Sam Hodder. Since many people in urban areas cannot regularly visit Acadia or Katahdin, it is imperative that we continue to develop parks and trails in urban areas,” said Mr. Hodder, who also spoke at the governor’s conference.

Another concern of land managers and park superintendents is that in the last 15 years, visitation to national parks has dropped 25 percent. Fewer visitors to national parks, particularly among the younger generation, could mean that in the future there is less support for funding national parks, wildlife refuges, historic monuments and national recreational areas, said Mr. Steele.

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