Are you lethargic? Tired? Can’t concentrate? Maybe you have green deficit disorder.

That’s right. The family needs a hit of nature. Take a hike! was the theme of a recent evening at the Art Gallery of Ontario, hosted by David Suzuki and Richard Louv. Suzuki is a well-known writer, broadcaster and environmental activist in

Canada, while Louv is a journalist in the U.S. who wrote, Last Child in the Woods and The Nature Principle.

“The more high-tech our lives become, the more nature we need,” Louv is fond of saying.

More and more research is accumulating on the health benefits of frolicking among trees. A new study conducted at the University of Kansas found that a group of adult backpackers were 50 per cent more creative after spending four days on the trail, implying that nature sharpens the mind.

Researchers at the University of Illinois recently found that children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder who regularly play in green settings have milder symptoms than children who play in built settings. And scientists at Cornell

University found that children who have more contact with nature —even if it’s just the view of something green from their bedrooms — experience less stress than those with less exposure.

Suzuki advises us to help protect every bit of wild nature that’s left on the earth.

“We need our elders to get off the golf course and start sharing with young people what the world used to look like,” he told the audience.