By Ward Peck

Editor

    “What is happening inside our homes is way more of a
threat to the health of our children than anything outside–we’ve been
preaching the opposite,” was how Dr. Erik Steele, Chief Medical Officer
at Eastern Maine Healthcare described the challenge a new statewide
program called “Take it Outside,” is meant to face.

    Steele, who is also the co-chairperson of Gov. John
Baldacci’s Council on Physical Education, made the remarks about the
dangers of a sedentary lifestyle alongside the cliffs overlooking the
Atlantic Ocean at Cape Elizabeth’s Two Lights Park on Tuesday. He was
joined by two Gold Medal-winning Olympians, runner Joan Benoit
Samuelson snowboarder Seth Wescott, Baldacci, public officials from the
state Dept. of Conservation and representatives of a constellation of
education, recreation and conservation groups to promote the Take It
Outside initiative.

    Take It Outside, according to Dept. of Conservation
spokesman and South Portland resident Jim Crocker is designed to
encourage young people to reconnect to the outdoors and is based upon
the philosophy of Richard Louv. Louv’s book “Last Child in the Woods:
Saving our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder,” highlights the
diminished connection between children and the natural world. Louv’s
book makes a connection between decreased attendance at national parks,
lower sales of bicycles and the increased rates of obesity, early-onset
diabetes, attention deficit disorders and other behavioral problems.

    The diminished use of state parks was apparent
during the press conference that drew dozens of activists, spectators
and members of the press, where the parking lot remained well below
capacity on a sunny summer day.

    According to Chris Robinson, Director of the Cape
Elizabeth Land Trust, organizations throughout the state and the nation
have embraced Louv’s philosophy of promoting a return to nature, and
free-form physical activity as opposed to organized competitive sports.
Robinson points to a $20,000 project at Pond Cove Elementary School
that includes a creative play area, planting beds and an outdoor
classroom, based upon the concept of “greening the school grounds." The
project was made possible through contributions from the Cape Elizabeth
Teachers’ Association, the Cape Elizabeth Educational Foundation and
CELT. Robinson said CELT still needs roughly $5,000 to complete the
outdoor classroom.

    Lynn Richard and education coordinator with the
Portland Water District said similar projects are taking place in South
Portland, Portland and other towns and cities throughout Cumberland
County.

    “We are focusing on schools because that’s where the
children are,” Richard said. “And schools are sterile and barren.”

    Samuelson, the Cape Elizabeth resident who founded
tomorrow’s Beach-to-Beacon 10K race, now in its 10th year, spoke of
Maine’s “huge problem with diabetes and obesity.” Samuelson, also a
co-chairperson of the governor’s physical education commission, sounded
a theme expressed by a number of speakers–including Wescott, a
co-Olympian and her former babysitting charge–that Maine’s natural
resources from mountains and lakes to a long shoreline is a perfect
laboratory for promoting a deeper and more robust interaction with the
outdoors.

    Wescott picked up on that theme.

    “I am inspired by Maine,” Wescott said. “It is this amazing resource.”

    He said much of his summer training in preparation for competition is spent “playing in Maine.”

    Crocker said Take it Outside recognizes that many
groups have been pursuing these programs independently. The purpose of
the initiative is to “get everyone under one roof and create a
clearinghouse of ideas.”

    “We want them to know what the Dept. of Conservation
is doing and we want to know what they’re doing,” Crocker said.

    To that end, Baldacci has directed each state agency
to evaluate the programs and policies that may be encouraging– or
discouraging the public to be more active outside. Those assessments
will be discussed at a conference next spring.

    In addition to the health benefits, Baldacci touted
the economic benefits of getting more residents to use the state’s
recreation resources, noting $13 billion is spent  in the state,
largely by vistors to “our big woods and along our rocky coast.”