Feasibility and acceptability of a gardening-based nutrition education program in preschoolers from low-income, minority populations

Urban Farm DB summary

An 8-week teacher-led PLANT Gardens (Preschoolers Learn About Nutrition Through Gardens) program with 103 Head Start preschoolers in two Harris County, Texas centers. Confirmed feasibility and acceptability and a significant increase in parent-reported willingness to try new fruits and vegetables.

Only numbers and their conditions are stored, as structured data — never the source's own sentences. Metric and condition names stay in English, as coded.

• 28.4 %

  overweight or obese prevalence(head start preschooler)

  Healthn = 103

  region

  US-TX

  setting

  head-start-preschool

  study design

  pilot-test

  age range

  3-5

  years

  2008

• 3 %

  perceived child overweight(preschooler parent)

  Health

  region

  US-TX

  setting

  head-start-preschool

  study design

  parent-survey

• 67 %

  willingness to try new fruits and vegetables baseline(head start preschooler)

  Healthn = 25

  region

  US-TX

  setting

  head-start-preschool

  study design

  pre-post-parent-survey

  timepoint

  baseline

• 84 %↑ IncreaseStatistically significant

  willingness to try new fruits and vegetables post(head start preschooler)

  Healthn = 25p = 0.026Control: baseline before the 8-week garden-based program

  region

  US-TX

  setting

  head-start-preschool

  study design

  pre-post-parent-survey

  intervention

  plant-gardens-8-weeks

  years

  2008

Direction of conclusions

Each author conclusion is recorded only as a coded direction per topic. Read the original for the conclusion itself.

• Education and learningSupportsWith caveats
• Nutrition and healthSupportsWith caveats

Garden-based lessons are gaining popularity as a means of increasing fruit and vegetable intake among children. The study objective was to pilot test a garden-based preschool curriculum for feasibility and acceptability in Harris County Department of Education Head Start using qualitative and quantitative methods. A total of 103, 3- to 5-year-old children at two Head Start centers in Harris County, Texas participated. PLANT Gardens (Preschoolers Learn About Nutrition Through Gardens), a theoretically grounded, teacher-led, garden-based nutrition education program for preschoolers was implemented over 8 weeks in spring 2008. Heights and weights were measured on participating children. Data regarding program feasibility and acceptability were obtained through post-intervention focus groups with teachers and parents, weekly lesson plan evaluation forms completed by project staff, and post intervention teacher surveys. Pre−post self-reported parent surveys were used to evaluate the effects of the program on their preschooler’s fruit and vegetable preferences and willingness. The results showed that, overall, 28.4 percent of the Head Start preschooler’s population were overweight or obese, yet only 3 percent of parents perceived their preschooler as overweight. This pilot test revealed strong acceptability and feasibility of the PLANT Gardens program in this Head Start population. Results of the parent surveys (n= 25) indicated a significant increase in their preschooler’s willingness to try new fruits and vegetables (67% at baseline vs 84% post-intervention; p = 0.026). Data were used to further refine the program components. In conclusion, the PLANT Gardens program showed good initial feasibility and acceptability and is a promising program to increase preference and intake of fruits and vegetables in a preschool population. Further evaluation of behavioral outcomes using a larger sample size and a prospective design is needed.