The Effects of School Gardens on Students and Schools: Conceptualization and Considerations for Maximizing Healthy Development

Ozer, Emily J.

doi:10.1177/1090198106289002

Cited by 271 publications

(286 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…While substantial research has been conducted to show that healthy diets, specifically diets high in F&V, are linked to reductions in obesity and obesity-related diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular risk factors (40,41) , more studies examining the direct impact of a garden-based programme on obesity and related diseases are warranted. Considering Ozer's evaluation framework in 2007 (11) , there are multiple pathways by which school garden programmes may potentially strengthen the healthy development of students, including dietary intake, academic achievement/engagement and a sense of connection to schools, while enhancing the relationship of the school to the family and broader community. However, the majority of the garden programmes have primarily focused on the student outcomes, mainly dietary behaviours.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At about the same time, the paucity of empirical evidence on effectiveness of school gardens was revealed in a systematic review by Ozer (11) , which found only five separate studies on the health impacts of school gardens. Ozer recognized the emergence of school gardens as 'learning laboratories' in the USA and the need for a conceptual framework upon which to evaluate their impact on health.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sustenance and sustainability: maximizing the impact of school gardens on health outcomes

Davis

Spaniol

Somerset

2015

Public Health Nutr.

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Objective: School garden programmes have become popular action-oriented learning environments in many countries, often driven by converging priorities of environmental sustainability and healthful diets. Many of these programmes have assessed the impact on dietary intake, specifically fruit and vegetable intake, and related dietary behaviours, such as knowledge, preference, motivation, intention and self-efficacy to eat and prepare fruit and vegetables. The objective of the present study was twofold: (i) to review published garden-based programmes conducted in schools targeting dietary intake and/or determinants of dietary behaviour in children; and (ii) to identify similar strategies and components employed by these garden-based programmes. Design: The review included thirteen studies that have examined the impact of garden-based programmes conducted in school, either during school hours or in after-school settings, on dietary behaviours in children (kindergarten through 8th grade students). Results: Three of the reviewed studies did not have a comparison or control group and simply evaluated within-group changes after a garden intervention. None of the reviewed studies were randomized, but were assigned based on school's interest and timing of new school gardens being built. Out of the eleven programmes that examined dietary intake, six found that the programme resulted in increased vegetable intake, whereas four showed no effect. Seven of the eight studies that measured preference found that the programmes resulted in increased preference for vegetables. Gardening programmes also resulted in improved attitudes towards, willingness to taste, identification of and self-efficacy to prepare/cook fruit and vegetables. Similar strategies/components employed by the majority of the programmes included: 'hands on' curriculum, incorporation of a cooking component, providing the instructors, parental and stakeholder support, food provision and using the garden as the focal point for media promotion. Conclusions: Some of the garden programmes resulted in increased vegetable intake, which has positive implications for both environment sustainability and health-related outcomes. Further, the majority resulted in some improvement in behaviour determinants more generally. However, more research is warranted to understand how to achieve long-term improvements in dietary behaviours and how to sustain the garden-based programmes in schools.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustenance and sustainability: maximizing the impact of school gardens on health outcomes

Davis

Spaniol

Somerset

2015

Public Health Nutr.

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“…The sustainability of the gardens was important for the success of the intervention and required a long-term commitment (Ozer, 2007).The regional advisors had expertise and experience to link gardening and growing activities to the National Curriculum and to run staff training sessions for teachers. They worked directly with teachers and pupils.…”

Section: Rhs-led Interventionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Repeated exposure to FV can have a positive impact on liking and intake (Anzman-Frasca, Savage, Marini, Fisher, & Birch, 2012;Cooke, 2007). Gardening can provide opportunities for FV tasting and for learning in an interactive manner how fruit and vegetables are grown and their benefits to health (Ozer, 2007). However, there is limited high quality research evaluating the impact of gardening on children's FV intake, and it has provided mixed results.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of the impact of school gardening interventions on children's knowledge of and attitudes towards fruit and vegetables. A cluster randomised controlled trial

et al. 2015

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“…Defined by the law, the School Meals Program is -in addition to providing the availability of high-quality school meals -also aimed at learning healthy habits; raising awareness about sustainable consumption, optimal growth and cognitive development; and developing responsible attitudes towards health and the environment (20) . Reviews of school nutrition interventions in other countries indicate that most of them are oriented either to healthy nutrition education (49)(50)(51) or other interventions such as school lunches, school canteens (52,53) , vending machines (54) , or specific practices such as school breakfast programmes (55,56) and school gardens (57) . Some interventions tend to focus only on specific foods, such as the School Fruit Scheme (58)(59)(60) , or specific dietary outcomes, such as decreased consumption of Significance obtained by ANOVA test: *P < 0·05; **P < 0·01; ***P < 0·001.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

School nutrition guidelines: overview of the implementation and evaluation

Gregorič¹,

Pograjc²,

Pavlovec³

et al. 2015

Public Health Nutr.

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Objective: To holistically evaluate the extent of implementation of dietary guidelines in schools and present various monitoring systems. Design: The study comprises three methods: (i) a cross-sectional survey (process evaluation); (ii) an indicator-based evaluation (menu quality); and (iii) a 5 d weighed food record of school lunches (output evaluation). Setting: Slovenian primary schools. Subjects: A total 234 food-service managers from 488 schools completed a selfadministrated questionnaire for process evaluation; 177 out of 194 randomly selected schools provided menus for menu quality evaluation; and 120 school lunches from twenty-four schools were measured and nutritionally analysed for output evaluation. Results: The survey among food-service managers revealed high levels of implementation at almost all process evaluation areas of the guidelines. An even more successful implementation of these guidelines was found in relation to organization cultural issues as compared with technical issues. Differences found in some process evaluation areas were related to location, size and socio-economic characteristics of schools. Evaluation of school menu quality demonstrated that score values followed a normal distribution. Higher (better) nutrition scores were found in larger-sized schools and corresponding municipalities with higher socio-economic status. School lunches did not meet minimum recommendations for energy, carbohydrates or dietary fibre intake, nor for six vitamins and three (macro, micro and trace) elements. Conclusions: The implementation of the guidelines was achieved differently at distinct levels. The presented multilevel evaluation suggests that different success in implementation might be attributed to different characteristics of individual schools. System changes might also be needed to support and improve implementation of the guidelines.

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The Effects of School Gardens on Students and Schools: Conceptualization and Considerations for Maximizing Healthy Development

Cited by 271 publications

References 34 publications

Sustenance and sustainability: maximizing the impact of school gardens on health outcomes

Sustenance and sustainability: maximizing the impact of school gardens on health outcomes

Evaluation of the impact of school gardening interventions on children's knowledge of and attitudes towards fruit and vegetables. A cluster randomised controlled trial

School nutrition guidelines: overview of the implementation and evaluation

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