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Recently I was walking with my daughter and her three-year-old friend in the park near our home. "Should we stop by the duck pond and see the ducks?" asked the friend's father. "Nah," said the little girl, "we don't have any quarters."

Follow-up questions were rebuffed, but I think the idea was that we needed quarters to make the ducks go, or maybe to get food to feed the ducks, a la the petting zoo. We laughed it off as yet another city kid moment (like when my daughter responded with great curiosity at the strange term "driveway").

But according to this story from the BBC News, more and more kids—and adults—are living lives divorced from nature, and the results can be bad for your health.  As we all spend more of our time plugged into various screens than we do outside, we may be suffering from what author Richard Louv calls "nature-deficit disorder." Part of the concern is that kids growing up disconnected from nature will care less about the environment and the world around them. Another concern is that we are all missing out on the health benefits of fresh air, getting dirty, and connecting with nature. A life lived indoors generally means less exercise and of course less sunlight. The article quotes a study that visitors to a green space in Yorkshire felt a greater sense of well-being. All we have to do to go outside and play. (And you don't even need to bring any quarters.)

Read the article for more on "forest schools" for children, the Japanese concept of "forest bathing," and other ways we can get more outside time in our inside lives.

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Sometimes the most frustrating part about dealing with depression or anxiety isn't not knowing what to do about it--it's knowing what you should do and still, for whatever reason, not being able to do it. Take the example of a really bummed-out woman lying on the couch, mentally collecting all of the upsetting psychic Play-Doh bits that are troubling her and sticking them together to make one ugly, pieced-together ball-of-woe. She's done this before, so she knows she should pick up the phone and call someone--her mom, her best friend, her therapist--but she just doesn't have the energy. So the ball-of-woe keeps getting bigger and heavier.

Researchers at Northwestern University are currently working on an app to help depressed people who find themselves in this situation. A recent Scientific American podcast succinctly explains (in less than a minute and a half, no less) how the app, called Mobilyze!, will use the GPS and accelerometer from a depressed patient's smartphone to track their habits and identify when they're sunken into the couch for hours on end. The phone will then send them impossible-to-ignore reminders to do things like call someone who can help them snap out of their funk.

There are more apps in the works for other mental health issues, too. Scientists are interested in finding ways to combine smartphones and cognitive behavioral therapy techniques to help people get effective treatment on the go, or when they're least likely to ask for it. Benedict Carey, a science reporter for the New York Times, describes an app for people with social anxiety that involves a repetitive game that, with practice, could distract them from hostile faces in a crowd (read the article to see how this app could potentially train the party-phobic to calm down, refocus and enjoy themselves in a large group).

Neither of these apps are currently available to the public--nor is the one European psychologists are developing for heavy drinkers that involves virtually "pushing" away alcoholic beverages. But until they are, there's this: Steps Away is a meeting locator app that helps recovering addicts find, add and map directions to the nearest 12-step meeting. It may not provide instant therapy, but it can show some people who need it exactly where to find it.

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Isn't this what happens every February 14th? You plan to spend the night reconnecting with your partner, who you haven't seen much of lately. You envision a leisurely dinner out (where someone else cooks) so that you two can talk about important stuff, like the President's budget proposal, your jobs, the Oscars and the return of Mad Men. But then the restaurant somehow loses your reservation (or you, ahem, realize that no one ever got around to making a reservation), so the plan turns into catching up on reruns while eating takeout in front of the TV.

Here's a better idea than vegging out side-by-side: Invite another couple over (you must know some other pair who suffered from a case of reservation-making amnesia). While it may sound counter-intuitive to spend the holiday of love with two other people, science says that a double-date can spice up your love life. A study by psychologists at Wayne State University found that when couples engaged in intense, personal discussions with other couples in a controlled laboratory setting, they left feeling not only closer to their new friends, but to their own romantic partners. The couples also reported learning new things about their partners, and described feelings of novelty (and we've all heard how the spark of newness can reignite a slow-burn relationship). The key here will be to keep the TV turned off--and the wine flowing--so you can focus on good, stimulating, thought-provoking conversation. (Just remember to make time after your friends leave to spend some, um, silent time together, as well.)

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While it's very rare to find someone who really, truly doesn't like fatty foods (the preference evolved to help our ancestors survived in leaner, pre-vending machine times), scientists have found that certain forms of the fat-loving gene make some people go crazy for the stuff. In a study recently published in the journal Obesity, food and nutrition researchers explain that those with a variation of the CD36 gene (that's about 21 percent of the population) tended to rate salad dressings as creamier, half-and-half as tastier, and cooking oil as more appealing. The study results may help explain why some people have a harder time sticking to a low-fat diet than to a low-carb diet, one of the researchers told Science Daily.

We like that it gives butter-lovers a bit of a break (it's not my willpower--it's my genes!) without suggesting that they completely throw in the towel on diets and healthy eating.

THE MAN WHO LIVED ON HIS BIKE from Guillaume Blanchet on Vimeo.

This Canadian cyclist manages to shower, shave, fry eggs and type on his laptop--all while riding his bicycle through Montreal (and with just the tiniest bit of help from a film editing app, perhaps). In addition to making us laugh (we love how he woos the lady cyclist), this charming short film made us think about how we could also get fit while taking care of other tasks. Here are some ideas:

Squat as you sift through emails. You can do this at the office or in front of your laptop at home. Stand about one inch in front of your chair, holding in your abdominals. Squat as if you're going to sit, but just as your backside touches the chair, stand back up and squeeze the glutes. Doing this for one minute each day for five days will burn approximately 50 calories, and you'll finish geting through your inbox.

Do push-ups while you wait for the shower to warm up. Most of us use this time to yawn enthusiastically and rub our eyes. Doing 10 to 20 push-ups against the bathroom sink is a much better way to wake up and go into the day with toned-feeling arms.

Get dancer's legs while cooking. While you're heating something on the stove, grab the counter and tone your backside. Stand straight with one leg slightly in back of you, two to three inches off the ground, foot flexed. Hold for 15 to 20 breaths, then do 20 to 30 tiny lifts, pausing at the top of each lift for a couple of seconds. Stir the pot, add salt to taste, and repeat on the other side.

Keep reading:
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Don't just sit there: get fit at your desk

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A coworker at one of my former jobs once invented a brilliant game: casting the movie of our office life. It kept us busy on many a dull day. Oh, the joy of finding just the right actor to play the fusty office manager, the glamorous assistant! Oh, the disappointment when the others didn't share your vision! Well, what? It was silly, but the game kept our minds churning during some of our more rote tasks (hello, copy machine). Even the most fascinating job in the world can't render 8+ hours amid gray carpeted walls distraction-proof.

Turns out, the same is true of our just-slightly-less-smart relatives, the great apes. In a story very unsettling to those of us who have seen The Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the BBC reports that captive primates get bored, and show signs of frustration and stress as a result. Fay Clark from the Royal Veterinary College's Center for Animal Welfare told the BBC, "If an ape does not receive enough cognitive challenge in life, this can lead to abnormal behaviours or a lack of interest in the environment." Just like me and my coworkers!

One thing that keeps the primates entertained is—wait for it—video games. The BBC story is full of great anecdotes: The orangutans at Zoo Atlanta get small pellets of food for performing matching tasks on a screen hidden in a tree (incidentally, I want one of those), but they will keep playing for fun even after their pellet rewards run out. And the lucky orangutans at Toronto Zoo get to play with iPads. Super-smart chimp Ai loves playing memory games on a screen. (Visit the BBC site for an amazing picture of an orangutan with his iPad, and other fascinating photos of these clever creatures.) While these tasks are certainly artificial, at least one researcher suggests that computer games enrich the primates' lives: "In a sense, I think, the tasks are their 'Sudoku',"says Professor John David Smith, who teaches macaque monkeys to play joystick games.

It makes me think about the relationship all of us have with our many screen-y amusements, from iPads to laptops, Kindles to smart phones. In a way, we're all providing ourselves with little moments of fun throughout the day—a round of Words With Friends during an afternoon coffee break; some blood-pressure-lowering imagery after a stressful meeting. All things in moderation, of course, but if a screen can help you relieve some of the stress of, ah, living in captivity as it were, then by all means, scroll on!

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Americans probably ate about 30 million pounds of snacks during the Super Bowl yesterday (or so estimates Shape magazine), and studies have shown that overindulging on food high in salt and fat on the weekend sets us up for craving more calorie-iffic food during the week.

So you might think: I'll make it up by not eating a thing today. Problem solved. But...this is not the solution, says Best Life nutritionist Beth Sumrell Ehrensberger, M.P.H., R.D. "Your willpower may hold up all day long, but by the time dinner rolls around, you'll most likely give into your hunger by making unhealthy choices and eating more than  you need." In other words, you'll be powerless against leftover pizza. Another thing to keep in mind: While you may have consumed an excess of calories yesterday, chances are they were remarkably devoid of the things your body needs, like water, protein, fiber and antioxidants. If you deprive yourself again today, you'll effectively complete a two-day nutrient fast.

Here are Ehrensberger's recommendations for what to eat on this post-game afternoon and evening:

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Sweating for a cause can be incredibly motivating—just ask Katherine Jeter, the 72-year-old who pedaled her bike from California to Florida last spring to raise more than $200,000 for nursing scholarships. But if fund-raising for a charity ride or run isn't your style, consider the Plus 3 Network. You sign up (it's free), log your exercise, and every mile on the treadmill or lap in the pool is translated into points. (If you verify your activity with a fitness tracking device, like a Garmin or an iPhone, you score double.) The site's corporate sponsors then convert those points into dollars and donate them to your favorite nonprofit. So far over 16,000 participants have stretched, jogged, and danced their way to more than $450,000 for great causes and groups, including local food banks, Greenpeace, and more. (plus3network.com)    
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I once tried to give up coffee for one week--just one measly week. It was unbearable, and the withdrawal headaches weren't even the worst of it (although they were pretty awful). I didn't know what to do with my hands when I wasn't typing. I missed my daily 4 p.m. coffee breaks with my friend and the rush of caffeine that kicked my brain into gear. During that time, coffee seemed to haunt me: everyone I passed was clutching a cup, the smell of roasting beans wafted out of coffee shops and delis, and I even detected it on my coworkers' breath. I caved and had a cup of after three days, and it tasted like sweet relief.

While the ubiquity of coffee may have seemed like a symptom of my caffeine-free fever dream, statistics prove that Americans really do drink a lot of it. More than half of all adults--107 million people--drink coffee daily. The average worker spends more than $20 a week on the stuff, according to a recent survey by the web site Consumerist. Our national dependence on the bitter brown fuel may explain the rash of studies within the past year on the health benefits of coffee. The good news for those like me who have a hard time kicking the habit: we don't have to. Here's the very latest on how coffee affects us:

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Fuzzy bunny slippers are exactly what a person wants to slip into at the end of a cold day. But for winter weekends that involve more than shuffling between the couch and the tea kettle, you might want a little extra support. Standing in one position for more than an hour on hard surfaces tires our feet and lower leg muscles, says Phillip Vasyli, a podiatrist and founder of the footwear company Orthaheel USA, and repeatedly walking up and down stairs while barefoot can put strain on our knees.

We're not saying you should wear your sneakers inside. In fact, we're definitely not saying that--outdoor shoes bring dirt and germs into your home, and are better left at the door. But people who usually wear supportive shoes outside will often walk for hours around their home in shoes they wouldn't consider sturdy enough to take them across the street. (I was one of them. I didn't realize my cheapie slip-ons were making my foot injuries worse until they caved in, causing me to walk on the insides of my feet.)

Take a look at your own indoor shoes: Are there scuff marks under your toes? Can you see a deep indentation created by the pressure of your feet? Do the soles slope inward or outward? These are signs that your slippers might be letting you down, says Vasyli. Extreme sloping can be a significant problem, because it means that worn-down shoes are overworking your foot and lower leg muscles, putting you at risk for injuries. In general, Vasyli says that if you feel foot pain while walking around your home, or sore feet when you get out of bed in the morning, or if your lower legs ache all day in your current slippers, you should consider a pair of indoor shoes with firm soles and arch support. You don't have to give your favorite slippers the boot: just save them for lazy days. When you need to get stuff done, here are some slippers that step up: