Great outdoors may ease ADHD symptoms

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Parents may find some help for their children’s ADHD symptoms by going back to nature, new research suggests.

The study of 452 parents of children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder found that activities in “green” spaces such as farms, parks and even backyards often seemed to temporarily quell the children’s symptoms.

Children were more likely to show improved symptoms in the hour after an outdoor, green activity than after activities performed indoors or in concrete-and-steel settings, according to parents’ reports.

The findings, along with past research, have “exciting implications,” according to the study authors, Drs. Frances E. Kuo and Andrea Farber Taylor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

They speculate that daily doses of “green time,” such as simply taking a greenery-splashed route when walking to school, or playing on grass instead of concrete, could aid in managing ADHD.

The researchers report their findings in the September issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

Some past research has suggested that natural settings help battle so-called attention fatigue in people without ADHD. This temporary fatigue is thought to develop when people have to work to focus their attention on a task, blocking out distractions from their surroundings; the theory is that natural environments provide respite from this effort, according to Kuo and Taylor.

Attention fatigue, though fleeting, shares characteristics with ADHD, the researchers note. Some studies, mostly in urban areas, have suggested that spending time in green spaces eases children’s ADHD symptoms.

To see whether green settings might have more widespread effects, Kuo and Taylor conducted a national survey that asked parents to rate how various after-school and weekend activities affected their children’s ability to focus, listen and follow instruction. The study included families from urban, rural and suburban areas.

The researchers found that overall, activities in natural settings—whether on a farm, in a backyard, or in a “green” neighborhood space—seemed to have a calming effect on children’s symptoms.

Indoor activities and those in “built” outdoor settings like downtown areas also seemed to ease ADHD symptoms, but only when the child was alone or with one friend. In contrast, green activities appeared to improve symptoms even when a child was part of a large group.

Though more research is needed, the study authors conclude, the findings suggest that green time could help many children, regardless of their personal circumstances—and possibly reduce their need for medication.

And, they note, “among those children for whom medication is not an option, a regular regime of green views and green time outdoors might offer the only relief from symptoms available.”

According to Kuo, there is evidence that ADHD may be as much as three to four times more common in urban environments than in other areas.

“This difference has been a big puzzle to researchers,” she told Reuters Health, “and our work may provide a clue as to why there is more ADHD in some places than others.”

“There’s no need to wait for us scientists to find out for sure whether nature activities or any other kinds of activities really do help,” Kuo added. “Parents can keep track and find out which activities work for their own kids.”

SOURCE: American Journal of Public Health, September 2004.

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