A school-based gardening obesity intervention for low-income minority children

 描述（由申请人提供）：学校园艺计划提供负担得起的和可获得的水果和蔬菜（FV），教孩子们如何种植，烹饪和享受FV，并显示出减少肥胖和低收入西班牙裔相关疾病的良好效果。缺乏获得健康和负担得起的食物是导致低收入西班牙裔人肥胖率和代谢风险因素升高的一个重要因素。越来越多的国家和基层运动支持园艺工作，使健康食品更便宜和更容易获得，并使低收入家庭的摄入量更可持续。然而，很少有实验研究评估了基于花园的干预措施对肥胖和相关代谢紊乱的影响。我们最近完成了一项NIH R21资助，这是一项随机对照试验（RCT），旨在测试居住在洛杉矶的375名低收入西班牙裔学生的园艺，营养和烹饪计划的效果。这项研究的初步结果表明，与对照组相比，干预组学生的BMI参数和腰围减少，膳食纤维和蔬菜的每日摄入量增加，血脂水平改善。我们希望通过以下方式扩展和复制这项研究：a）使用集群随机学校设计; B）在上课时间实施该计划; c）增加样本量; d）将干预期延长至一个学年; e）收集儿童的综合代谢测量结果; f）加强家庭研讨会; g）收集更多的父母数据; h）制定和评估可持续发展战略。因此，该项目的总体目标是测试一个大型的基于学校的园艺，营养和烹饪RCT（称为“豆芽”）对饮食摄入，饮食相关行为，肥胖和相关代谢紊乱的影响，在低收入的西班牙裔青年和他们的家庭在得克萨斯州中部。16所小学将被随机分配到：1）萌芽干预或2）控制（延迟干预）。在每个 在干预学校，我们将建立可食用的花园;形成和培训花园领导联盟（GLC）;教20个芽在学校的教训，学生;和教九个家庭为基础的芽课程整个学年。将在基线和干预后获得学生的以下指标：身高、体重、BMI、腰围、身体成分（通过生物阻抗）、血压、血糖、胰岛素和血脂（通过自愿空腹抽血）、饮食摄入量和相关的心理社会行为（例如，吃FV的偏好/动机/自我效能）。我们还将在基线和干预后测量父母的人体测量学、饮食摄入量和相关的饮食心理社会变量。在干预年之后，我们将为GLC和学校教师提供一系列培训讲习班和资源，以在随后的几年中维持萌芽计划。我们将通过流程日志/调查，结构化访谈和学校观察来衡量每所学校的可持续发展。这些发现可以为以花园为基础的学校项目提供一个成功的，可持续的模式，减少影响西班牙裔人口的肥胖和代谢疾病。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): School gardening programs offer affordable and accessible fruits and vegetables (FV), teach children how to grow, cook, and enjoy FV, and show promising effects on reducing obesity and related diseases in low-income Hispanics. Lack of access to healthy and affordable food is a significant factor contributing to elevated rates of obesity and metabolic risk factors among low-income Hispanics. There is a growing national and grassroots movement to support gardening efforts to make healthy foods more affordable and accessible and to make intake more sustainable for low-income families. However, few experimental studies have evaluated the impact of garden-based interventions on obesity and related metabolic disorders. We recently completed an NIH R21 grant, which was a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to test the effects of a gardening, nutrition, and cooking program in 375 low-income Hispanic students living in Los Angeles. Preliminary results from this study show that intervention compared to the control students have reductions in BMI parameters and waist circumference, increases in daily intake of dietary fiber and vegetables, and improved lipid profiles. We want to expand and replicate this study by: a) using a cluster randomized school design; b) implementing the program during school hours; c) increasing sample size; d) lengthening the intervention period to one school year; e) collecting comprehensive metabolic measurements on the child; f) enhancing family workshops; g) collecting more parental data; and h) developing and evaluating sustainability strategies. Thus, the overall goal of this project is to test the effects of a large school-based gardening, nutrition, and cooking RCT (called "Sprouts") on dietary intake, dietary-related behaviors, obesity, and related metabolic disorders in low-income Hispanic youth and their families in Central Texas. Sixteen elementary schools will be randomized to either: 1) Sprouts intervention or 2) Control (delayed intervention). At each intervention school, we will build edible gardens; form and train Garden Leadership Coalitions (GLCs); teach 20 Sprouts in-school lessons to the students; and teach nine family-based Sprouts lessons throughout school year. The following measures will be obtained for students at baseline and post-intervention: height, weight, BMI, waist circumference, body composition (via bioimpedance), blood pressure, glucose, insulin, and lipids (via voluntary fasting blood draws), dietary intake, and related psychosocial behaviors (e.g., preference/motivation/self-efficacy to eat FV). We will also measure anthropometrics, dietary intake, and related dietary psychosocial variables on the parents at baseline and post-intervention. After the intervention year, we will provide a series of training workshops and resources to the GLCs and schoolteachers to sustain the Sprouts program in subsequent years. We will measure the sustainability employed by each school by process logs/surveys, structured interviews, and school observations. The findings could provide a successful, sustainable model for garden- based school programs that decrease the obesity and metabolic diseases impacting Hispanic populations.