The carry-over effects of school gardens on fruit and vegetable availability at home: A randomized controlled trial with low-income elementary schools

This group-randomized controlled trial examines the effects of a school garden intervention on availability of fruits and vegetables (FV) in elementary school children's homes. Within each region, low income U.S. schools in Arkansas, Iowa, New York, and Washington State were randomly assigned t...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Preventive medicine Vol. 112; pp. 152 - 159
Main Authors:	Wells, Nancy M., Meyers, Beth M., Todd, Lauren E., Henderson, Charles R., Barale, Karen, Gaolach, Brad, Ferenz, Gretchen, Aitken, Martha, Tse, Caroline C., Pattison, Karen Ostlie, Hendrix, Laura, Carson, Janet B., Taylor, Cayla, Franz, Nancy K.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States Elsevier Inc 01-07-2018
Subjects:	Child Environment Fruit Gardens Housing Schools Vegetables Vegetables Fruit Environment Gardens Housing Schools Child
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	This group-randomized controlled trial examines the effects of a school garden intervention on availability of fruits and vegetables (FV) in elementary school children's homes. Within each region, low income U.S. schools in Arkansas, Iowa, New York, and Washington State were randomly assigned to intervention group (n = 24) or waitlist control group (n = 22). Children were in grades 2, 4, and 5 at baseline (n = 2768). The garden intervention consisted of both raised-bed garden kits and a series of grade-appropriate lessons. FV availability at home was measured with a modified version of the GEMS FJV Availability Questionnaire. The instrument was administered at baseline (Fall 2011) and throughout the intervention (Spring 2012, Fall 2012, Spring 2013). Analyses were completed using general linear mixed models. The garden intervention led to an overall increase in availability of low-fat vegetables at home. Among younger children (2nd grade at baseline), the garden intervention led to greater home availability of vegetables, especially, low-fat vegetables. Moreover, for the younger group, garden intervention fidelity (GIF) or robustness predicted home availability of fruit, vegetables, and low-fat vegetables. School gardens have potential to affect FV availability in the home environment. •School garden intervention affects availability of low-fat vegetables at home.•Gardens' effect on home vegetable availability is greater for grades 2–3 than 4–6.•Garden intervention fidelity (GIF) predicts home availability of fruit and vegetables.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-News-2 ObjectType-Feature-3 content type line 23
ISSN:	0091-7435 1096-0260
DOI:	10.1016/j.ypmed.2018.03.022