Developing Healthy Kids Through Outdoor Play: Be Out There Healthcare Provider Tips

By recommending that patients establish healthy behaviors early such as daily time outdoors, medical doctors and mental health practitioners can help reduce negative impacts on kids’ health. By taking the following actions, healthcare providers can lead the charge toward whole child wellness:

• Add three to five questions about outdoor time and media habits to intake forms/risk assessments. Plus, inform parents of the link between outdoor time and better health. 
• Write a prescription for regular outdoor time.
• Include links to Be Out There outdoor activities on their websites.
• Hang Be Out There posters in their waiting rooms.
• Instruct parents to create a nature journal that catalogs outdoor activities with their kids and the effect it has on their children’s mood.
• Remind parents to limit plugged-in time.