Watch me grow: a garden-based pilot intervention to increase vegetable and fruit intake in preschoolers.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Americans, including children, consume fewer fruit and vegetable servings
than is recommended. Given that young children spend large amounts of time in child
care centers, this may be an ideal venue for increasing consumption of and enthusiasm
for fruits and vegetables. This pilot study aimed to assess the feasibility of a gardening
intervention to promote vegetable and fruit intake among preschoolers. METHODS: We
enrolled two intervention centers and two control centers. The intervention included
a fruit and vegetable garden, monthly curriculum, gardening support, and technical
assistance. We measured mean (SD) servings of fruits and vegetables served to and
consumed by three children per center before and after the intervention. RESULTS:
Post intervention, intervention and control centers served fewer vegetables (mean
(standard deviation) difference of -0.18 (0.63) in intervention, -0.37 (0.36) in control),
but intervention children consumed more than control children (+0.25 (1.11) vs. -0.18
(0.52). The number of fruits served decreased in all centers (intervention -0.62 (0.58)
vs. control -0.10 (0.52)) but consumption was higher in controls (intervention -0.32
(0.58) vs. control 0.15 (0.26)). CONCLUSIONS: The garden-based feasibility study shows
promise, but additional testing is needed to assess its ability to increase vegetable
and fruit intake in children.
Type
Journal articleSubject
Association LearningChild
Child Day Care Centers
Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena
Child, Preschool
Female
Food Services
Fruit
Gardening
Health Promotion
Humans
Male
North Carolina
Nutrition Assessment
Reproducibility of Results
Research Design
Vegetables
Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/11439Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1186/1471-2458-13-363Publication Info
Namenek Brouwer, Rebecca J; & Benjamin Neelon, Sara E (2013). Watch me grow: a garden-based pilot intervention to increase vegetable and fruit intake
in preschoolers. BMC Public Health, 13. pp. 363. 10.1186/1471-2458-13-363. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/11439.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Show full item recordScholars@Duke
Rebecca Brouwer
Dir, Research Initiatives
My overarching goal is to facilitate effective research and collaborations for the
Duke research community, through the delivery of targeted programs, tools, and individual
consultations.

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