Impact of the use of produce grown in an elementary school garden on consumption of vegetables at school lunch
Date
2009
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
Low consumption of nutrient- and fiber-rich fruits and vegetables has been implicated in the increase in childhood obesity seen over the past two decades. The use of school gardens is a new nutrition education method that may provide some additional benefit in getting children to consume the recommended amount of vegetables. Previous research into the effectiveness of school gardens has shown that they have positive impacts upon children’s vegetable preferences, and they can have a positive impact on children’s consumption of vegetables at school lunch. However, no research has examined using school garden produce at school lunch to determine if that tactic would have an additional impact on children’s consumption of vegetables at school lunch.
In this study, a school garden program in Delaware was evaluated for its impact upon program participants’ vegetable preferences and consumption of vegetables at school lunch. This study used a quasi-experimental design to examine 252 fourth- and fifth-graders in two schools that have been participating in the garden program and 107 fourth- and fifth-graders in a nearby school that does not have a school garden, as a control group. An 11-item questionnaire was used to examine participants’ vegetable preferences and a series of cafeteria observations was completed to determine if using garden produce as the vegetable offering in the school cafeteria leads children to choose to eat that vegetable.
Results showed that participants in the school garden program were more willing to try new vegetables after having participated in the program (p = 0.01). Although this study did not find that participation in the school garden program Low consumption of nutrient- and fiber-rich fruits and vegetables has been implicated in the increase in childhood obesity seen over the past two decades. The use of school gardens is a new nutrition education method that may provide some additional benefit in getting children to consume the recommended amount of vegetables. Previous research into the effectiveness of school gardens has shown that they have positive impacts upon children’s vegetable preferences, and they can have a positive impact on children’s consumption of vegetables at school lunch. However, no research has examined using school garden produce at school lunch to determine if that tactic would have an additional impact on children’s consumption of vegetables at school lunch.
In this study, a school garden program in Delaware was evaluated for its impact upon program participants’ vegetable preferences and consumption of vegetables at school lunch. This study used a quasi-experimental design to examine 252 fourth- and fifth-graders in two schools that have been participating in the garden program and 107 fourth- and fifth-graders in a nearby school that does not have a school garden, as a control group. An 11-item questionnaire was used to examine participants’ vegetable preferences and a series of cafeteria observations was completed to determine if using garden produce as the vegetable offering in the school cafeteria leads children to choose to eat that vegetable.
Results showed that participants in the school garden program were more willing to try new vegetables after having participated in the program (p = 0.01). Although this study did not find that participation in the school garden program increased the amount of vegetables the participants consumed at school lunch, it did find that using school garden produce as a hook to get children who have worked in the garden to consume that produce at school lunch is a successful tactic to promote vegetable consumption (p < 0.05). Not surprisingly, the study also found that those participants who already gardened outside of school was positively correlated with consuming vegetables at school lunch, with those gardening outside of school consuming vegetables 1.04 ± 0.40 times per week more (p = 0.009) supporting existing research which shows that participating in a gardening program has a positive impact on vegetable consumption.
In conclusion, participation in a school gardening program does have a small positive impact upon children’s vegetable preferences and consumption levels. The knowledge gained from this research can be used to increase the effectiveness of school garden programs to promote vegetable consumption among children.