A school gardening program in Texas demonstrates that hands-on food education can improve children’s eating habits in underserved communities, according to recent research published in the International Journal for Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity.
The Texas Sprouts study included over 3,000 elementary school aged students and measured the impact of incorporating gardening, cooking, and nutrition lessons into schools. The year-long program led to a modest yet significant increase in vegetable consumption among children in predominantly Hispanic, low-income communities, where access to fresh produce is limited and childhood obesity rates are higher than average.
Lead researcher Jaimie Davis tells Food Tank that having a garden program at school “gets kids interested in growing their own food and where their food comes from, and…empowers the child to be a champion of change in the house.”
The Texas Sprouts program was introduced in eight of the 16 participating schools, combining classroom lessons, cooking workshops, and the creation of 0.25-acre teaching gardens. The remaining schools served as a control group for the study and received the program the following year.
Each school formed a Garden Leadership Committee of teachers, parents, students, and community members to oversee the gardens and ensure they became an integral part of school culture. According to Davis, the idea is that “kids that grow their own food and cook with their own foods are much more likely to be willing to try it.”
Over nine months, students participated in 18 interactive gardening, cooking, and nutrition lessons. Parents also had access to monthly workshops to foster a culture of health at home but despite incentives like free babysitting, meals, and produce giveaways, only 7 percent of parents attended at least one workshop. In the future, Davis hopes virtual lessons will make attendance more accessible.
The program significantly increased the number of vegetables kids were eating, but researchers saw no measurable changes in obesity-related markers such as body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage, or blood pressure during the study period. According to Davis, however, a longer intervention period may be necessary to produce measurable health outcomes.
The study also highlights the barriers to achieving broader health outcomes through nutrition education. According to the researchers, limited access to affordable fresh foods can undermine dietary improvements made at school in communities where food insecurity is prevalent.
School gardens may be the only consistent source of fresh produce for some students, but studies show that the exposure can encourage students to share the activity with their families. “Our Texas Sprouts program did result in increased gardening at home,” Davis explains, “so while the yield at the school may not be a ton, if they are also growing things at home the combination of those two might be a little bit more meaningful.”
To sustain and scale these school gardening programs, the researchers emphasize that systemic support, including funding for garden-based education, professional development for teachers, and improved access to affordable fresh produce, is essential. They believe that policymakers have an opportunity to leverage school gardens as a practical tool for nutrition education and combating diet-related health disparities in underserved communities. “We still have a long way to go in making sure that all homes have access…to healthy foods,” Davis tells Food Tank.
The authors also hope that the findings can pave the way for further research on the long-term effects of school gardening programs. Future studies can explore additional health markers like blood glucose levels and how these programs influence psychosocial factors tied to diet and health. As Davis explains, the goal is “planting the seed of behavior change,” highlighting how these programs aim to foster lasting positive impacts on students’ eating habits and overall health.
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Photo courtesy of the U.S. Department of Agriculture
