Nature Deficit Disorder

Our natural world is receding from human experience, but the physical and mental benefits associated with communing with nature remain as important as ever. Declining interest in the outdoors has been described as “nature deficit disorder by Richard Louv in his book, Last Child in the Woods. Children especially are experiencing a nature deficit disorder.

The amount of time children and young adults spend outside is in sharp decline, and demographic trends indicate the great outdoors is becoming less relevant for more people, statistically speaking.