Dr. Robert Zarr, a pediatrician at Unity Health Care in Washington, D.C., was inspired by Richard Louv wrote about what he called nature-deficit disorder who writes about the benefits of nature and the problems that can come from being too isolated from the natural world. Dr. Zarr is the founder and medical director of Park Rx America, a nonprofit that encourages doctors to prescribe parks; for some states, the website allows a doctor to search for parks near a family’s home address, or with particular available amenities, and write a specific prescription, with the name of the park, the activity, the duration, the frequency.
Mr. Louv’s new book, “Vitamin N,” offers activities for parents, communities and schools. When he was growing up, he said, it was normal for children to go outside and play. Nowadays, for both children and adults, that time outside is even more essential, he said, because “nature experience is particularly good at resting the brain from the burnout of looking at screens all the time.”
Read the July 16, 2018 NY Times article by Perry Klass, M.D. by clicking here.
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