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

 描述(由申请人提供)：学校园艺项目提供负担得起和可获得的水果和蔬菜(FV)，教孩子如何种植、烹饪和享受FV，并在减少低收入拉美裔美国人的肥胖和相关疾病方面显示出良好的效果。缺乏健康和负担得起的食物是导致低收入拉美裔肥胖率和代谢风险因素上升的一个重要因素。全国和基层正在兴起一场运动，支持园艺工作，使健康食品更容易负担得起和更容易获得，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以花园为基础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NIH R21拨款，这是一项随机对照试验(RCT)，旨在测试居住在洛杉矶的375名低收入拉美裔学生参加园艺、营养和烹饪项目的效果。这项研究的初步结果显示，与对照组相比，干预后学生的BMI参数和腰围有所下降，每日膳食纤维和蔬菜的摄入量增加，血脂状况得到改善。我们希望通过以下方式扩大和复制这项研究：a)使用整群随机学校设计；b)在学校时间内实施该计划；c)增加样本量；d)将干预期限延长至一学年；e)收集关于儿童的全面新陈代谢测量；f)加强家庭研讨会；g)收集更多家长数据；h)制定和评估可持续发展战略。因此，这个项目的总体目标是测试一个大型的以学校为基础的园艺、营养和烹饪RCT(称为“Sprouts”)对德克萨斯州中部低收入拉美裔青年及其家庭的膳食摄入量、饮食相关行为、肥胖和相关代谢紊乱的影响。16所小学将被随机分为：1)萌芽干预或2)对照(延迟干预)。在每个 在干预学校，我们将建造可食用的花园；组建和培训花园领导联盟(GLC)；向学生教授20门芽菜在校课程；以及在整个学年教授9门以家庭为基础的芽菜课程。学生在基线和干预后将获得以下测量：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，对食用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。干预年后，我们将为GLC和学校教师提供一系列培训讲习班和资源，以支持Sprouts计划在随后的几年中继续下去。我们将通过过程日志/调查、结构化访谈和学校观察来衡量每所学校所采用的可持续性。这一发现可能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，以减少影响拉美裔人口的肥胖和代谢性疾病。

 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.