Resources
Prescription for Outdoor Activity
NEEF's Prescription for Outdoor Activity in English and Spanish is a tool pediatric health care providers can use to encourage children to spend more time being active in nature.
Tip for Health Care Providers: Place a label or stamp medical center contact information on bottom right corner of prescription.
AAP Prescription for Healthy Active Living
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) provides materials for families and pediatricians to support healthy active living, such as their Healthy Active Living Prescription in English and Spanish.
Patient Brochure
A supplement to the Prescription for Outdoor Activity, NEEF's Patient Brochure (en Español) helps health care providers educate families about the benefits of spending time in nature and connects them to nearby National Wildlife Refuges, National Fish Hatcheries, parks, playgrounds, and nature centers.
Tip for Health Care Providers: 1) Place a 3" x 5" printed label listing local nature sites under the heading "Where to Go in Your Area."
2) Place a label or stamp medical center contact information on back panel of brochure.
Pediatric Environmental History Form
NEEF's Pediatric Environmental History Form (en Español) contains questions to help health care providers assess the amount of time children spend outdoors and the amount of time they spend watching TV, using a computer, or playing video games.
Fact Sheet: Children's Health and Nature
NEEF's comprehensive Children's Health and Nature Fact Sheet contains highlights of published literature supporting the health benefits of the natural environment.
Children and Nature Initiative PowerPoint Presentation
The Children and Nature Initiative PowerPoint Presentation summarizes key studies on the rise in childhood obesity and ADHD, the physical and mental health benefits of nature, and explains why pediatric health care providers should consider prescribing outdoor activity.
Designed by: Joel Forman, MD- Mount Sinai Medical Center
Sophie Balk, MD- Children's Hospital at Montefiore
James Roberts, MD, MPH- Medical University of South Carolina; Representative, American Academy of Pediatrics
Using Nature and Outdoor Activity to Improve Children's Health
The latest issue (May 2010) of Current Problems in Pediatric and Adolescent Health Care features an article by NEEF's Leyla E. McCurdy, Kate Winterbottom, Suril Mehta and Ex-Officio Trustee James Roberts MD. "Children spend more time indoors using electronic media and less time engaged in outdoor unstructured play...Pediatric health care providers should recommend outdoor activities for children and refer families to safe and easily accessible outdoor areas. Pediatric health care providers can incorporate this simple, lifestyle-based intervention into anticipatory guidance."
