A Potential Natural Treatment for Attention-deficit/hyperactivity Disorder: Evidence from a National Study

Overview

Journal Am J Public Health

Specialty Public Health

Date 2004 Aug 31

PMID 15333318

Citations 103

Authors

Frances E Kuo

Andrea Faber Taylor

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Objectives: We examined the impact of relatively "green" or natural settings on attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms across diverse subpopulations of children.

Methods: Parents nationwide rated the aftereffects of 49 common after-school and weekend activities on children's symptoms. Aftereffects were compared for activities conducted in green outdoor settings versus those conducted in both built outdoor and indoor settings.

Results: In this national, nonprobability sample, green outdoor activities reduced symptoms significantly more than did activities conducted in other settings, even when activities were matched across settings. Findings were consistent across age, gender, and income groups; community types; geographic regions; and diagnoses.

Conclusions: Green outdoor settings appear to reduce ADHD symptoms in children across a wide range of individual, residential, and case characteristics.

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