Abstract
The benefits of school garden programs are far-reaching; however, few studies have assessed the impact of school gardens on PA levels in a youth population. PURPOSE: To assess the impact of school gardens on physical activity (PA) levels in a youth population. METHODS: Data were obtained from 62 low-income 4th grade students in a central Texas school participating in TX Sprouts—a large, school-based gardening, nutrition, and cooking randomized controlled trial. A wall-mounted stadiometer and Tanita scale were used to measure students’ height, weight, and body fat percentage, respectively. ActiGraph wGT3X+-BT accelerometers captured student PA on garden days and non-garden days. Evenson (2008) cut points were used to calculate time spent in sedentary (SED) and in moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA). Total step counts (TLSC), and energy expenditure (kcal) were also obtained. Linear mixed modeling was used to determine the effect of TX Sprouts on PA, controlling for age, sex, and BMI. RESULTS: Students were 60.3% female, 59.7% Hispanic with a mean age of 9.2 ±0.4 years, and 45% of students were affected by overweight/obesity. When compared to non-garden days, on garden days students demonstrated greater MVPA (β=2.96, p<0.001), TLSC (β=551.45, p<0.001), kcals (β=18.04, p<0.001), and a reduction in SED (β= -9.21, p<0.0001). This equates to an increase of approximately 3 minutes MVPA, 549 steps, 17.6 kcals, and a decrease of 9.4 minutes TMESD. CONCLUSION: Results showed increased PA for students on garden days vs. non-garden days. While findings reflect PA during one hour of a school day, garden lessons could have a substantial and meaningful impact on children’s PA if incorporated multiple times throughout the school week. Supported by NIH Grant R01 HL123865.
Published Version
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