American Public Health Association features a front page article on the movement
The Nation's Health – October 01, 2007
By by Kim Krisberg
The intersection between healthy people and a healthy environment is becoming clearer every day, with public health advocates emerging as crucial defenders of sustaining clean water and skies far into the future.
That future, however, is in the hands of today’s children, many of whom are more likely to view nature through the screen of a television rather than the netted screen of a camping tent.
The retreat indoors for many American children has environmental advocates worried that children who grow up without memories of fishing in a local stream or hiking through idyllic woods might become adults for whom conserving the environment isn’t a priority. For public health workers, the effects of sedentary indoor lifestyles are already evident among children: startling rates of obesity, the onset of one-time adult conditions such as diabetes and a shortened life expectancy. Thankfully, though, the movement to reconnect kids with nature has seen a rejuvenation in the last few years, and experts predict that good health will be a major motivator in bringing families back to nature.
Read the full article at www.apha.org.
C&NN has designated April "Children & Nature Awareness Month." As part of this effort, we invited network members (like you) to list their April programs and share their strategies for building public awareness. Find out what's happening in your community on the C&NN Movement Map.
As part of our ongoing efforts to build the movement, the Children & Nature Network has published two new resources for leaders, organizers, and participants at the local, national, and international levels:
An annotated bibliography of 20 premier studies focusing on the children and nature connection.
