With kids back to school, fall colours will soon change and birds will begin their migratory journeys. This year, a daily migration of cell phones will not be happening. In Ontario and across the country, provinces are creating or reinforcing cell phone bans in the classroom.

There is a clear educational benefit and need to decrease screen time for concentration. But we want to spend a little bit of time in this column talking about another aspect: the importance of decreased screen time for health.

Kids in 2024 are more plugged in and preoccupied by screens than any previous generation. The average North American child spends 2,738 hours in front of a screen time per year. To put in perspective, that is almost 1.5 times a ‘9 to 5’ job.

What kids have gained in connectedness to the global internet and network of people and information, they have lost in connectedness to the nature around them. These days our kids are inside, sitting passively in front of a world sealed behind glowing, two-dimensional screens.

What did you do with these 2,738 hours when you were a kid?

We remember playing outside. Unstructured play, flourishing, imagining time in the woods or fields, playing with other kids, and connected to the environment around us. When we played, we cooperated, we used initiative, we solved problems and entertained ourselves. Outside all of our senses were activated — we experienced the colours, smells, and sounds of the season, which made us feel more a part of the world around us.

The loss of this connectedness is sometimes called “nature deficit disorder.” While this might not be an official medical diagnosis, the consequences of screen time and the loss of time outside from a health standpoint are quite apparent.

Children under two years of age that have screen time is particularly concerning. The Canadian Pediatric Society recommends no screen time at all before that age and very limited from two to five years old. The health risks associated with screen time this early in life include obesity, sleep, deprivation, impairment to reading skills, language, development, and social skills, difficulties with attention, and vision problems.

For older children and adolescents, increased screen time is associated with a decreased attention span, decreased emotional stability, and mental illness. In one study, adolescents that had high screen time versus low screen time were twice as likely to have a diagnosis of depression or anxiety.

We live in a digital world. It is likely unreasonable to limit screen time altogether in older kids, especially as they are used for homework or other important activities. Cell phone bans are clearly important for education and health, but banning screens at school is not enough. Video games or other screen time at home can quickly add up.

From a public health perspective, we know that focusing on improving health — not just preventing diseases — is important.

Similarly, rather than just banning screen time, we should be thinking about how to make screen time more irrelevant, less of a draw.

This is where the treatment for nature deficit disorder comes in: nature. Richard Louv, the author of the Last Child in the Woods – Saving our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder calls time spent in nature “Vitamin N”.

Exposure to the outdoors at a young age brings not only decreased screen time, but tremendous health benefits. Nature improves mood, decreases the risk of chronic disease, and improves psychological well-being. Research has also shown that simply seeing the colour green increases our serotonin levels (the feel-good hormone). Breathing in forest air has been associated with a boost to immune systems.

Perhaps most importantly, kids who spend time outside report feeling happier.

This is not only a benefit for our health, but for our environment as well. Children that spend more time in nature grow up to care deeply about it. They become environmentalists and are interested in restoring and protecting the nature around us for generations to come. They understand the connection that our health has with the health of the environment around us.

And so as we are back to school and cell phones are banned, let us think not just about decreasing screen time, but about inspiring a love of nature in children and in the child in all of us. With some luck, nature can help to re-occupy the space that screen time has stolen.

We are blessed with a beautiful natural environment around the Peterborough/Nogojiwanong region — get out and explore!

As families, we can take our children outside on a regular basis so that they can come to know and love a natural place. As teachers, we can explore and learn from our schoolyard or a nearby park. We can visit local outdoor centres. As adults, we too can reconnect with the living systems that nourish us by taking walks, biking, or just relaxing in nature.

Let’s also remember that each one of us occupies a space and we have a choice. We can either make this space worse, the same, or better. We can collectively bring nature back to our school grounds, backyards, and places where we work by rewilding, planting native species, and creating natural corridors. When we teach children this ethic, we leave a legacy of stewardship that will endure for years to come.

If you’re interested in learning more about nature, activities for your children, grandchildren, or friends, see the Pathways to Stewardship & Kinship materials freely available at pathwayproject.ca.

Dr. Thomas Piggott is medical officer of health and CEO of Peterborough Public Health. Jacob Rodenburg is executive director of the local not-for-profit educational organization Camp Kawartha and author of a number of books on nature and stewardship.