Abstract
Objective: Use a school-based food garden as an instrument to improve healthy dietary consumption, habits, and practices among children from the third to fifth grade in public schools in Chile. Design: Quasi-experimental, six-month intervention with an evaluation of dietary consumption, habits, and practices and use of the school-based food garden among the 3rd to 5th grade students. Setting: Two municipal schools in a low-middle income district in Santiago de Chile; one with a school garden intervention and a control school without a garden. Subjects: 155 third to fifth grade children, 63 in the intervention school and 92 in the control school (average age 10 years old, 58% boys). Results: In the intervened school, there was a significant improvement in the children’s dietary habits, such as peeling and slicing fruit (p Conclusions: The school-based food garden was effective in achieving change in dietary habits and practices among the third to fifth grade children. The project should be carried out for a longer period of time, so that the changes will be reflected in the students’ food consumption and nutritional status.
Highlights
Chile has evolved in recent decades from high malnutrition and low obesity rates to the eradication of malnutrition and high prevalence of obesity, especially in children [1]
Various international studies have been conducted on this topic, and the findings indicate the importance of using school-based food gardens to educate students about healthy eating
This is reflected by preparation of sandwiches and peeling and slicing fruit by the students, who increased this activity in the intervention school, while no changes were observed in the control school
Summary
Chile has evolved in recent decades from high malnutrition and low obesity rates to the eradication of malnutrition and high prevalence of obesity, especially in children [1]. Since 1987, the National School Assistance and Scholarship Board (Junta Nacional de Auxilio Escolar y Becas, JUNAEB), part of the Chilean Ministry of Education, has measured obesity among the first graders in all public schools which represent 92% of all schools in the country. According to these data, obesity prevalence increased from 7.5% in 1987 to 25.3% in 2013. Obesity prevalence increased from 7.5% in 1987 to 25.3% in 2013 When this is added to 26.5% of children with overweight, more than 50% of children in the first grade weigh more than what is considered normal for their age. The progressive increase in overweight and obesity is more frequent among people of a low socioeconomic level, because as income improves, people purchase food with a high fat, carbohydrate, and salt content, with a marked preference for processed, high-calorie food accompanied by low consumption of fruits and vegetables and a high level of sedentarism [1]
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