Gardening Increases Vegetable Consumption in School-aged Children: A Meta-analytical Synthesis

Urban Farm DB summary

Using peer-reviewed studies of garden-based nutrition education programs delivered to children in the United States, a study applied meta-analytical techniques to examine effects on children's nutrition knowledge, preference for fruit and vegetables, and consumption. Compared with experimental controls (no nutrition education) and nutrition education programs without a gardening component, a vote-counting analysis found most outcomes nonsignificant in the control and nutrition-education-only groups, but positive and significant in the gardening group. The quantitative meta-analysis was limited by the small number of studies reporting full descriptive statistics, but one robust result stood out: gardening increased vegetable consumption in children, while the impact of nutrition education programs alone was marginal or nonsignificant.