A growing body of research shows that a lack of exposure to nature is the culprit in rising obesity, depression and attention disorders in children.
It was otherwise a typical day at the Chinese primary school, but after a massive thunderstorm, a kingfisher flew into eight-year-old Bryn Chen Ann Howes’ classroom. All the kids shrieked and dove for cover.
Howes dashed to catch the bird and held it up for the class to see.
“This is the Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher, and it’s migrated all the way from China,” he commentated to his peers.
However, Howes’ teacher brushed him off and told him to release the bird. He was crestfallen. Howes is an anomaly amongst his peers, a generation plugged into Nintendo games and PlayStations or glued to cable TV.
A 2002 British study reported that eight-year-olds could identify Pokémon characters far more easily than they could name “otter, beetle and oak tree.” The World Heart Federation reports that two-thirds of children worldwide are insufficiently active for their health. These kids double their risk of becoming fat and developing heart and other chronic diseases.
In the past decade, the number of obese children has increased by two to five times in developed countries and almost four times in developing countries.
A growing number of studies are finding links between children’s relationship with the natural environment and how nature can potentially influence children’s health. American writer cum journalist Richard Louv’s award-winning book Last Child in the Woods — Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder sparked off an international debate about children’s relationship with nature.
In his book, Louv coined the term “nature-deficit disorder” to talk about how children’s disconnect from the environment can lead to physical and emotional illnesses. Research has shown that children function better cognitively and emotionally in “green environments”; have more creative play in “green areas” and develop better interpersonal relationships and have a more positive attitude to school.
Studies also suggest that nature experiences can help children with attention-deficit disorder.
Closer to home, numerous studies have revealed the link between obesity, diet and sedentary lifestyles. A 2004 study of adolescents aged 12 to 17 found that 19% of Malaysian teenagers are overweight. But to date, no study has been done on the effects of nature on a child’s development.
“This connection between children and nature sounds very New Age and green,” says consultant child psychiatrist Dr Toh Chin Lee of Selayang Hospital.
Moulded by nature
Children like Howes, who cavort outdoors, are very distinct from TV/PlayStation-obsessed kids. Howes’ idea of fun is to look for insects under stones, hunt for dragonflies and beetles, and then identify them all. He brings along his own bug box, butterfly net and flash light during outdoor jaunts.
“We could’ve been in the shopping malls, playing on swings and slides or at home, playing toy cars with Bryn. Instead, we showed him frogs and butterflies, allowed him to touch them and basically just exposed him to nature since he was a baby,” says John Howes, Bryn’s father.
In Louv’s book, he talks about the difference between the constructively bored mind and a negatively numbed mind. Constructively bored kids will eventually let their imagination take flight and find something to amuse themselves whilst the numbed mind gets bored even with a truckload of toys.
“Bryn is very observant and interested in everything around him,” says Howes, 47, an ecologist.
Once while waiting for the school bus, Bryn spotted mayfly larvae in the garden. He put them in a pot so he could watch them hatch later. Because of his love for nature, he’s fostered a passion for reading.
“For years, he’s been looking at pictures in the encyclopedia of animals that I bought,” says the senior Howes, an ardent birder since he was five. “Now that he’s discovered the power of reading, he consumes everything, especially if he can learn more about aphids and beetles.”
Young Howes’ favourite TV programmes? Animal Planet, Discovery Channel or National Geographic Channel. At school, he’s the de facto “naturalist guide”, leading his four or five friends on nature walks during recess.
“In the last six years, I’ve learned an incredible amount of information about insects, and it’s all because of Bryn,” confesses Howes senior, who is from Wales.
“We’d be buying books on insects or searching for information on the Internet together,” says Bryn’s mom, Ting Lan Chiee, a former environmental journalist from Sabak Bernam.
The choices parents make
If parents can pull their kids away from video games or TV, or at least impose a time limit, they can nurture their child’s constructive boredom. The Howes have had friends ask them: “Where do you take the kids, and how do you know where to take them?”
“First things first: You’ve got to quit worrying about the kids too much. They’re pretty hardy. Bryn has taken some falls and got bitten by bugs and harmless snakes, but he’s fine,” advises Howes.
“Find a safe place to go — for example a stream or pond in a park where it’s easy to supervise the kids and there’s lots to see and find. And get over the paranoia of exposing your kids to the sun, mosquitoes and rain.”
Some parents are reluctant to take their kids outdoors because they aren’t familiar with nature or know very little. But as Rachel Carson, the founder of Modern Environmental Movement, once said, “It’s not half so important to know as to feel when introducing a young child to the natural world.”
“You have to let the child feel, see, hear and smell, then he’ll be able to understand what’s happening around him,” says Gonthong Lourdesamy, mother of two boys, Aloysius, seven and Alexavier, four.
Originally from Thailand, Gonthong and her Malaysian husband, Ben, are outdoor lovers. Their kids were exposed to nature as babies.
“Children are naturally curious and plucky. They’ll touch anything and ask lots of questions,” says Gonthong, 41, an environmental educator.
The family frequently goes on trips to Fraser Hills or Janda Baik, or occasionally takes a camping trip to Taman Negara.
“When they pick up a millipede, they’ll ask: What do they eat? Where do they live? They’ll start to process what they learn.”
The boys’ outdoor exposure has shaped their attitude towards nature.
“Once Aloysius told his younger brother off — ‘You shouldn’t use so much paper. They have to cut trees to make paper. Remember, trees are good for animals and rivers’,” Gonthong recalls.
Aloysius can also explain the rain cycle to his peers while Alexavier’s great at putting two and two together.
“He has a reason for everything that happens,” say Gonthong.
“Once he saw an army of ants filing past, and he said, ‘The ants are looking for food’.
“I asked, ‘Why do you say that?’ He replied, ‘Because they are going to the kitchen. We go to the kitchen when we’re hungry’!”
Of course, the boys aren’t impervious to their peers’ influences. When they visit a friend’s house, they do enjoy the PlayStation.
“I don’t want them to be completely cut off from other kids. When they ask if we could buy a PlayStation, I’d explain that if we buy the games, we won’t have time and money to go outdoors. Which would they prefer?”
Nature in your backyard
But before you stock up on Coleman camping gear and plan that ultimate outdoor trip, start in your backyard, like Alicia Ling Horsley has done. The mother to Cian, three, Katelin, five and Bern, seven, allows her kids to romp in the garden.
“The kids wade in our garden pond, feed the chickens, look for ‘fairies’, bathe the dogs or just count ladybugs,” says Ling, 31, who runs a pet boutique business and a cat-boarding facility.
“Sometimes, they climb the long-suffering mulberry tree and pretend to be the Navi from Avatar. Their current pursuit is catching and observing the insects and spiders.”
Ling doesn’t need to keep an eagle eye on her kids. They have learned to tell what’s safe and not.
“I think being given the opportunity to use their bodies fully is one of the best things I can offer my children. Climbing, swinging, running barefoot — this is childhood. They value nature and want to care for her. They don’t yearn for material things so much. Getting a new plant cutting to propagate is as much fun as a toy-building set,” she says
The children get their dose of TV only on weekends in the morning, when Horsley wants to spend time with their father. Though the kids are home-schooled, they get to hang out with other kids through play dates, gymnastics and rock-climbing.
An early start
It’s never too early to inculcate a love for nature in a child, as Cindy Chen and her husband, Lim Teck Wyn, have discovered. Way before she could utter “Mummy”, Cerys, the couple’s daughter was tramping in the woods with her tree-hugging parents.
“My husband and I grew up with lots of nature around us, and it’s important that our daughter share this passion,” says Chen, 31.
The couple run an environmental consultancy firm.
At home, the Lims introduced Cerys to their plants, jumping spiders and maggots from their compost. Since they don’t own a TV, the Lims observe the antics of birds and monkeys outside their balcony in the leafy suburbs of Ampang. Outings to nearby parks or streams and long trips to Endau Rompin and Danum Valley are their idea of fun.
“Cerys gets very excited looking through the binoculars for birds and loves to munch on wild berries during forest walks,” says Chen.
Now 3½ years old, their daughter can rattle off the names of mammals and reptiles and identify some birds and monkeys.
“She has an amazing memory! Months after a trip, she’d talk about what we did, what we saw, who we went with and details that I hadn’t noticed like a funny-shaped stone in the river,” says the proud mother.
“Each time we walk to the car or bicycle, Cerys will find dead or live insects, make a comment or ask us not to step on them.”
So is Cerys a Bindi Irwin in the making, and will Bryn join the ranks of Edward O. Wilson, the world-renowned scientist and insect expert?
“It doesn’t matter if Bryn becomes a computer geek or ends up as an animation artist,” Howes shrugs. “As parents, we give opportunities and stimulation to the kids. It’s up to them how they use it later on. But I’d hope that throughout his life, he’ll retain some interest in the environment and be useful to the human race.
“Too many families waste resources and have too many kids without thinking about what their kids are contributing to the future,” says Howes.
It was otherwise a typical day at the Chinese primary school, but after a massive thunderstorm, a kingfisher flew into eight-year-old Bryn Chen Ann Howes’ classroom. All the kids shrieked and dove for cover.
Howes dashed to catch the bird and held it up for the class to see.
“This is the Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher, and it’s migrated all the way from China,” he commentated to his peers.
However, Howes’ teacher brushed him off and told him to release the bird. He was crestfallen. Howes is an anomaly amongst his peers, a generation plugged into Nintendo games and PlayStations or glued to cable TV.
A 2002 British study reported that eight-year-olds could identify Pokémon characters far more easily than they could name “otter, beetle and oak tree.” The World Heart Federation reports that two-thirds of children worldwide are insufficiently active for their health. These kids double their risk of becoming fat and developing heart and other chronic diseases.
In the past decade, the number of obese children has increased by two to five times in developed countries and almost four times in developing countries.
A growing number of studies are finding links between children’s relationship with the natural environment and how nature can potentially influence children’s health. American writer cum journalist Richard Louv’s award-winning book Last Child in the Woods — Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder sparked off an international debate about children’s relationship with nature.
In his book, Louv coined the term “nature-deficit disorder” to talk about how children’s disconnect from the environment can lead to physical and emotional illnesses. Research has shown that children function better cognitively and emotionally in “green environments”; have more creative play in “green areas” and develop better interpersonal relationships and have a more positive attitude to school.
Studies also suggest that nature experiences can help children with attention-deficit disorder.
Closer to home, numerous studies have revealed the link between obesity, diet and sedentary lifestyles. A 2004 study of adolescents aged 12 to 17 found that 19% of Malaysian teenagers are overweight. But to date, no study has been done on the effects of nature on a child’s development.
“This connection between children and nature sounds very New Age and green,” says consultant child psychiatrist Dr Toh Chin Lee of Selayang Hospital.
Moulded by nature
Children like Howes, who cavort outdoors, are very distinct from TV/PlayStation-obsessed kids. Howes’ idea of fun is to look for insects under stones, hunt for dragonflies and beetles, and then identify them all. He brings along his own bug box, butterfly net and flash light during outdoor jaunts.
“We could’ve been in the shopping malls, playing on swings and slides or at home, playing toy cars with Bryn. Instead, we showed him frogs and butterflies, allowed him to touch them and basically just exposed him to nature since he was a baby,” says John Howes, Bryn’s father.
In Louv’s book, he talks about the difference between the constructively bored mind and a negatively numbed mind. Constructively bored kids will eventually let their imagination take flight and find something to amuse themselves whilst the numbed mind gets bored even with a truckload of toys.
“Bryn is very observant and interested in everything around him,” says Howes, 47, an ecologist.
Once while waiting for the school bus, Bryn spotted mayfly larvae in the garden. He put them in a pot so he could watch them hatch later. Because of his love for nature, he’s fostered a passion for reading.
“For years, he’s been looking at pictures in the encyclopedia of animals that I bought,” says the senior Howes, an ardent birder since he was five. “Now that he’s discovered the power of reading, he consumes everything, especially if he can learn more about aphids and beetles.”
Young Howes’ favourite TV programmes? Animal Planet, Discovery Channel or National Geographic Channel. At school, he’s the de facto “naturalist guide”, leading his four or five friends on nature walks during recess.
“In the last six years, I’ve learned an incredible amount of information about insects, and it’s all because of Bryn,” confesses Howes senior, who is from Wales.
“We’d be buying books on insects or searching for information on the Internet together,” says Bryn’s mom, Ting Lan Chiee, a former environmental journalist from Sabak Bernam.
The choices parents make
If parents can pull their kids away from video games or TV, or at least impose a time limit, they can nurture their child’s constructive boredom. The Howes have had friends ask them: “Where do you take the kids, and how do you know where to take them?”
“First things first: You’ve got to quit worrying about the kids too much. They’re pretty hardy. Bryn has taken some falls and got bitten by bugs and harmless snakes, but he’s fine,” advises Howes.
“Find a safe place to go — for example a stream or pond in a park where it’s easy to supervise the kids and there’s lots to see and find. And get over the paranoia of exposing your kids to the sun, mosquitoes and rain.”
Some parents are reluctant to take their kids outdoors because they aren’t familiar with nature or know very little. But as Rachel Carson, the founder of Modern Environmental Movement, once said, “It’s not half so important to know as to feel when introducing a young child to the natural world.”
“You have to let the child feel, see, hear and smell, then he’ll be able to understand what’s happening around him,” says Gonthong Lourdesamy, mother of two boys, Aloysius, seven and Alexavier, four.
Originally from Thailand, Gonthong and her Malaysian husband, Ben, are outdoor lovers. Their kids were exposed to nature as babies.
“Children are naturally curious and plucky. They’ll touch anything and ask lots of questions,” says Gonthong, 41, an environmental educator.
The family frequently goes on trips to Fraser Hills or Janda Baik, or occasionally takes a camping trip to Taman Negara.
“When they pick up a millipede, they’ll ask: What do they eat? Where do they live? They’ll start to process what they learn.”
The boys’ outdoor exposure has shaped their attitude towards nature.
“Once Aloysius told his younger brother off — ‘You shouldn’t use so much paper. They have to cut trees to make paper. Remember, trees are good for animals and rivers’,” Gonthong recalls.
Aloysius can also explain the rain cycle to his peers while Alexavier’s great at putting two and two together.
“He has a reason for everything that happens,” say Gonthong.
“Once he saw an army of ants filing past, and he said, ‘The ants are looking for food’.
“I asked, ‘Why do you say that?’ He replied, ‘Because they are going to the kitchen. We go to the kitchen when we’re hungry’!”
Of course, the boys aren’t impervious to their peers’ influences. When they visit a friend’s house, they do enjoy the PlayStation.
“I don’t want them to be completely cut off from other kids. When they ask if we could buy a PlayStation, I’d explain that if we buy the games, we won’t have time and money to go outdoors. Which would they prefer?”
Nature in your backyard
But before you stock up on Coleman camping gear and plan that ultimate outdoor trip, start in your backyard, like Alicia Ling Horsley has done. The mother to Cian, three, Katelin, five and Bern, seven, allows her kids to romp in the garden.
“The kids wade in our garden pond, feed the chickens, look for ‘fairies’, bathe the dogs or just count ladybugs,” says Ling, 31, who runs a pet boutique business and a cat-boarding facility.
“Sometimes, they climb the long-suffering mulberry tree and pretend to be the Navi from Avatar. Their current pursuit is catching and observing the insects and spiders.”
Ling doesn’t need to keep an eagle eye on her kids. They have learned to tell what’s safe and not.
“I think being given the opportunity to use their bodies fully is one of the best things I can offer my children. Climbing, swinging, running barefoot — this is childhood. They value nature and want to care for her. They don’t yearn for material things so much. Getting a new plant cutting to propagate is as much fun as a toy-building set,” she says
The children get their dose of TV only on weekends in the morning, when Horsley wants to spend time with their father. Though the kids are home-schooled, they get to hang out with other kids through play dates, gymnastics and rock-climbing.
An early start
It’s never too early to inculcate a love for nature in a child, as Cindy Chen and her husband, Lim Teck Wyn, have discovered. Way before she could utter “Mummy”, Cerys, the couple’s daughter was tramping in the woods with her tree-hugging parents.
“My husband and I grew up with lots of nature around us, and it’s important that our daughter share this passion,” says Chen, 31.
The couple run an environmental consultancy firm.
At home, the Lims introduced Cerys to their plants, jumping spiders and maggots from their compost. Since they don’t own a TV, the Lims observe the antics of birds and monkeys outside their balcony in the leafy suburbs of Ampang. Outings to nearby parks or streams and long trips to Endau Rompin and Danum Valley are their idea of fun.
“Cerys gets very excited looking through the binoculars for birds and loves to munch on wild berries during forest walks,” says Chen.
Now 3½ years old, their daughter can rattle off the names of mammals and reptiles and identify some birds and monkeys.
“She has an amazing memory! Months after a trip, she’d talk about what we did, what we saw, who we went with and details that I hadn’t noticed like a funny-shaped stone in the river,” says the proud mother.
“Each time we walk to the car or bicycle, Cerys will find dead or live insects, make a comment or ask us not to step on them.”
So is Cerys a Bindi Irwin in the making, and will Bryn join the ranks of Edward O. Wilson, the world-renowned scientist and insect expert?
“It doesn’t matter if Bryn becomes a computer geek or ends up as an animation artist,” Howes shrugs. “As parents, we give opportunities and stimulation to the kids. It’s up to them how they use it later on. But I’d hope that throughout his life, he’ll retain some interest in the environment and be useful to the human race.
“Too many families waste resources and have too many kids without thinking about what their kids are contributing to the future,” says Howes.
