Aislinn Munck, a Helena High School senior, believes there is strong correlation between childhood obesity and the lack of time young people spend in nature.

That was one of the messages she offered at the Montana Children and Nature Summit held in Helena Tuesday.

"I'm here to learn and give a point of view of a young person," Munck said.

Keynote speaker Cheryl Charles said one way for young people to reconnect with nature is through schoolteachers, who can incorporate outdoor activities into lesson plans.

"If children don't get that deep bond in the early years they tend not to make decisions that benefit the Earth or (be) stewards for the long term," she said.

She urged the nearly 300 who attended the event to look closely at what's going on with preschool and elementary children.

Charles, president of the Children and Nature Network, worked with Richard Louv, author of "Last Child in the Woods" to develop training and education for those behind the children and nature movement. She said she sees Montana among the leaders in reconnecting children with nature.

Butte native SuzAnne Miller spoke about her extensive research on integrating socioeconomic information into natural resource public policy discussions and development.

"I came at this topic from a natural-resource perspective," she said.

Miller said that although Montana's population is growing, the school populations are decreasing, which is tied to funding, which in turn contributes to the radical differences in economies throughout the state.

This is an important factor when considering state-wide initiatives, she said.

Montanans participate in more outdoor activities than anywhere in the United States.

"Montanans enjoy their outdoors in great numbers," she said. "We have a tremendous sense of place. We think of it as a grand place ... we feel it in our bones, and that's an aspect to tap into."

But because what people are doing on the East Coast effects western states and vice versa, it's important to keep in mind that everyone is part of global situation, Miller said.

"We can't think about environmental awareness just within our own boundaries," she said. "Never has the need to nature ever been so great."

By mid-morning, Rachel Zeigler with the Glacier Institute had already found the event informative by offering good ideas about outdoor programs to create within the schools.

"One of our goals is to get kids outdoors and learning about the importance of their local environment," she said.

From outdoor education classes to green schools, Zeigler intended on returning to Kalispell armed with a few new ideas.

Thomas Baumeister, education bureau chief with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks said that's just what he'd hoped would happen.

"We are hoping the synergy will take place, alliances with be formed, and this will grow and turn into a movement to encourage families and kids to go outside," he said. "And, to simply communicate that it's OK to go outside."

Not only did the packed agenda focus on awareness of children and the outdoors, it focused on developing specific and tangible ideas, strategies and actions to address the nature deficit disorder.

One simple solution is physical education classes in school, Munck said.

The physical education curriculum has changed from an elementary setting of going outside to play soccer to being inside the gym in high school where students are lifting weights and running on treadmills wearing heart monitors, she said.

"They need to make the idea of physical activity about kids having fun outside," she said. "They need to be introduced to nature and not be hooked up to machines."

Reporter Alana Listoe: 447-4081 or alana.listoe@helenair.com