There's No Such Thing as Bad Weather: A Scandinavian Mom's Secrets for Raising Healthy, Resilient, and Confident Kids (from Friluftsliv to Hygge)

by Linda Åkeson McGurk

ADHD is a recognized condition in Norway, and 3 to 5 percent of Norwegian children and adolescents are estimated to have it. That figure is consistent with the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), which estimates that 5 percent of children in the US have ADHD. Yet 11 percent of all American children are currently diagnosed with the disorder, a figure that has been rising steadily for at least two decades. Of these, more than half receive medication for it, and among preschoolers who are diagnosed, the number is over 75 percent. Researchers are still scrambling to explain the recent ADHD epidemic, and the debate about how to treat it goes on. Outdoor play is certainly no cure-all for ADHD, but in Lowen’s case it was a game changer. Her son’s behavior no longer fit the diagnosis, nor did his Norwegian teacher see any evidence of it.