Body Image Benefits of Allotment Gardening

Urban Farm DB summary

This study assessed the impact of allotment gardening on body image among 84 allotment gardeners in London, United Kingdom. Participants completed measures of state body image before and after spending time on their allotments, and were compared to a matched control group of 81 non-gardeners. Results indicated that allotment gardening significantly improved state body image, with longer time spent on the allotment associated with larger improvements. Allotment gardeners also had significantly higher positive body image than non-gardeners across all included indices.