Sowing Seeds for Healthier Diets: Children’s Perspectives on School Gardening

Sarti, Asia; Dijkstra, Coosje; Seidell, Jacob C.; Dedding, Christine

doi:10.3390/ijerph14070688

Cited by 15 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 23 publications

(28 reference statements)

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“…Research on the positive effect of school gardening on preference for vegetables is primarily performed in the United States (Supporting Information Table S1), where the obesity problems are large. Our results as well as a study in Municipality of Amsterdam (the Netherlands) (Dijkstra, ; Nury et al., ) extend the observation of a positive effect of school gardening to continental northwestern European countries.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

“…However, the long-term effect is unknown, because long-term follow-up is rarely undertaken (Appleton et al, 2016). In total, 13 studies reported school gardening interventions with sample size varying between n = 34 (Davis et al, 2011) and n = 234 (Wright & Rowell, 2010) and intervention duration varying between 3 weeks (Wright & Rowell, 2010) and 35 weeks (Nury, Sarti, Dijkstra, Seidell, & Dedding, 2017) (Supporting Information Table S1). Eleven studies were performed in Northern America, one in Australia, and one in Europe.…”

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confidence: 99%

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School gardening increases knowledge of primary school children on edible plants and preference for vegetables

Leuven

Rutenfrans²,

Dolfing³

et al. 2018

Food Science & Nutrition

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At least 10% of children worldwide are diagnosed with overweight. Part of this problem is attributed to low vegetable intake, for which preference at a younger age is an indicator. Few studies examined long‐term effects of school garden interventions on the knowledge about and preference for vegetables. Therefore, in this study, an intervention period of 7 months (17 lessons) was organized for primary school students (n = 150) of age 10–12 years in the Municipality of Nijmegen (the Netherlands). Surveys were conducted before and after the intervention period to test the ability of students to identify vegetables, to measure their self‐reported preference for vegetables, and to analyze students’ attitudes toward statements about gardening, cooking, and outdoor activity. The long‐term effects were measured by repeating the survey 1 year after the intervention (n = 52). Results were compared with a control group of students (n = 65) with similar background and tested for significance with α = 0.05. School gardening significantly increases the knowledge of primary schoolchildren on 10 vegetables as well as their ability to self‐report preference for the vegetables. The short‐term (n = 106) and long‐term (n = 52) preference for vegetables increased (p < 0.05) in comparison with the control group. The latter did not show a significant learning effect (p > 0.05). This implies that the exposure to vegetables generated by school gardening programs may increase willingness to taste and daily intake of vegetables on the long term. Students’ attitudes toward gardening, cooking, and outdoor activity were unaffected by the intervention.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

School gardening increases knowledge of primary school children on edible plants and preference for vegetables

Leuven

Rutenfrans²,

Dolfing³

et al. 2018

Food Science & Nutrition

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“…School garden programs are a popular intervention for improving food and health behavior of schoolchildren in both high-and low-income countries (FAO 2005;Ozer 2007;Parmer et al 2009;Triador et al 2015;Hutchinson et al 2015;Nury et al 2017;Christian et al 2014). Many of these programs build on the understanding that food behavior is established early in life and try to influence children to make better food choices by giving them hands-on experience in growing their own vegetables on or near the schoolyard, usually in combination with awareness raising about the importance of healthy diets including vegetables.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of school gardens and complementary nutrition education in Burkina Faso

Schreinemachers¹,

Ouedraogo

Diagbouga³

et al. 2019

Journal of Development Effectiveness

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This study evaluates the combined impact of school vegetable gardens linked to complementary nutrition education on the nutritional awareness, knowledge, perceptions, and eating behavior of 8-14-year-old schoolchildren in Burkina Faso. The study uses a repeated cluster randomized controlled trial and a sample of 30 schools and 1,760 schoolchildren. The results show a small but significant (p < 0.05) increase in knowledge of sustainable agriculture (+5.0%) and knowledge of food and nutrition (+6.6%), but no significant increase in other outcome indicators including fruit and vegetable consumption. More caution is needed in the promotion of school gardens for improving child nutrition in very low income countries. ARTICLE HISTORY

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“…While gardening, the children in the current study's experimental group developed a positive attitude to consuming vegetables. Many studies have examined the question of the impact of the direct experience of gardening on this, with positive impacts reported by the following studies: Cavaliere, 1987;Cotugna et al, 2012;Hutchinson et al, 2015;Koch et al, 2006;Langellotto and Gupta, 2012;Lautenschlager and Smith, 2007;Leuven et al, 2018;Lineberger and Zajicek, 2000;Meinen et al, 2012;Morgan et al, 2010;Morris et al, 2001;Morris and Zidenberg-Cherr, 2002;Nolan et al, 2012;Nury et al, 2017;Parmer et al, 2009;Pothukuchi, 2004;Sarti et al, 2017;Waliczek and Zajicek, 2006;Wang, et al, 2010. Ohly et al (2016 noted the need to establish the impact of school gardening in terms of children's health and well-being by using more systematic and robust mixed methods of review.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gardening Activities at School and Their Impact on Children’s Knowledge and Attitudes to the Consumption of Garden Vegetables

Kos

Jerman

2019

PEC

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Learning through gardening is known to be an educational strategy in which a garden is used as a teaching tool. Systemic reviews of the impact of school gardening on academic performance and dietary habits foreground the need for additional quantitative studies that would use strong experimental designs. The aim of the present research was to establish the impact of school gardening on children’s knowledge of and attitude to the consumption of garden vegetables. A quasi-experiment was conducted including one control and one experimental group, with each group consisting of 15 children aged 6–7 years. The children’s prior knowledge and attitude toward the consumption of garden vegetables was identified through individual interviews. Participants in the experimental group then carried out their activities in a school garden that was built in co-operation with an organic farm located in close vicinity of the school. Following these activities, interviews were repeated in both groups to establish any newly acquired knowledge of and changes in the children’s attitude to garden vegetables. The results revealed that the children in both groups had poor general knowledge about garden vegetables at the beginning of the experiment. After their work in the garden was concluded, the knowledge of garden vegetables in the experimental group of children improved to a statistically significant degree. The children’s attitude to consuming garden vegetables also became more positive than before they engaged in the gardening activities. The results of this research indicated that school gardening activities improved academic outcomes and the children’s attitude to the consumption of vegetables. Therefore, the research suggests that gardening should be considered a vital part of school education. Keywords: active learning, garden-based learning, organic gardening, outdoor education, school garden.

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Sowing Seeds for Healthier Diets: Children’s Perspectives on School Gardening

Cited by 15 publications

References 23 publications

School gardening increases knowledge of primary school children on edible plants and preference for vegetables

School gardening increases knowledge of primary school children on edible plants and preference for vegetables

Impact of school gardens and complementary nutrition education in Burkina Faso

Gardening Activities at School and Their Impact on Children’s Knowledge and Attitudes to the Consumption of Garden Vegetables

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