Impact of a Farm-to-School Nutrition and Gardening Intervention for Native American Families from the FRESH Study: A Randomized Wait-List Controlled Trial
Establishing healthy eating habits during childhood is critical to prevent chronic diseases that develop in adulthood. Tribally owned Early Childhood and Education (ECE) programs signify fundamental influence in childhood obesity disparities. A strategy to improve diet is the use of school gardens;...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2022-06-01
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| Series: | Nutrients |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/14/13/2601 |
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| author | Tori Taniguchi Alyson Haslam Wenjie Sun Margaret Sisk Jann Hayman Valarie Blue Bird Jernigan |
| author_facet | Tori Taniguchi Alyson Haslam Wenjie Sun Margaret Sisk Jann Hayman Valarie Blue Bird Jernigan |
| author_sort | Tori Taniguchi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Establishing healthy eating habits during childhood is critical to prevent chronic diseases that develop in adulthood. Tribally owned Early Childhood and Education (ECE) programs signify fundamental influence in childhood obesity disparities. A strategy to improve diet is the use of school gardens; however, few studies have used rigorous methods to assess diet and health outcomes. The purpose of this manuscript is to describe results from the six-month Food Resource Equity for Sustainable Health (FRESH) study among Native American families. We aimed to recruit 176 families of children attending Osage Nation ECE programs in four communities. Two communities received the intervention and two served as wait-list controls. Outcomes included change in dietary intake, body mass index, health status, systolic blood pressure (adults only), and food insecurity in children and parents. There were 193 children (<i>n</i> = 106 intervention; <i>n</i> = 87 control) and 170 adults (<i>n</i> = 93 intervention; <i>n</i> = 77 control) enrolled. Vegetable intake significantly increased in intervention children compared to controls for squash (<i>p</i> = 0.0007) and beans (<i>p</i> = 0.0002). Willingness to try scores increased for beans in intervention children (<i>p</i> = 0.049) and tomatoes in both groups (<i>p</i> = 0.01). FRESH is the first study to implement a farm-to-school intervention in rural, tribally owned ECEs. Future interventions that target healthy dietary intake among children should incorporate a comprehensive parent component in order to support healthy eating for all household members. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T12:41:56Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7ebf3474f0b64ac892e8216f847f9f07 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-6643 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T12:41:56Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nutrients |
| spelling | doaj.art-7ebf3474f0b64ac892e8216f847f9f072023-11-30T22:17:37ZengMDPI AGNutrients2072-66432022-06-011413260110.3390/nu14132601Impact of a Farm-to-School Nutrition and Gardening Intervention for Native American Families from the FRESH Study: A Randomized Wait-List Controlled TrialTori Taniguchi0Alyson Haslam1Wenjie Sun2Margaret Sisk3Jann Hayman4Valarie Blue Bird Jernigan5Center for Indigenous Health Research and Policy, Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences, Tulsa, OK 74135, USADepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USADepartment of Rural Health, Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences, Tulsa, OK 74135, USAOsage Nation, Harvest Land, Pawhuska, OK 74056, USAOsage Nation, Harvest Land, Pawhuska, OK 74056, USACenter for Indigenous Health Research and Policy, Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences, Tulsa, OK 74135, USAEstablishing healthy eating habits during childhood is critical to prevent chronic diseases that develop in adulthood. Tribally owned Early Childhood and Education (ECE) programs signify fundamental influence in childhood obesity disparities. A strategy to improve diet is the use of school gardens; however, few studies have used rigorous methods to assess diet and health outcomes. The purpose of this manuscript is to describe results from the six-month Food Resource Equity for Sustainable Health (FRESH) study among Native American families. We aimed to recruit 176 families of children attending Osage Nation ECE programs in four communities. Two communities received the intervention and two served as wait-list controls. Outcomes included change in dietary intake, body mass index, health status, systolic blood pressure (adults only), and food insecurity in children and parents. There were 193 children (<i>n</i> = 106 intervention; <i>n</i> = 87 control) and 170 adults (<i>n</i> = 93 intervention; <i>n</i> = 77 control) enrolled. Vegetable intake significantly increased in intervention children compared to controls for squash (<i>p</i> = 0.0007) and beans (<i>p</i> = 0.0002). Willingness to try scores increased for beans in intervention children (<i>p</i> = 0.049) and tomatoes in both groups (<i>p</i> = 0.01). FRESH is the first study to implement a farm-to-school intervention in rural, tribally owned ECEs. Future interventions that target healthy dietary intake among children should incorporate a comprehensive parent component in order to support healthy eating for all household members.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/14/13/2601Native AmericanAmerican Indianfarm-to-school interventionearly childhood education programscommunity-based participatory researchrandomized-controlled trial |
| spellingShingle | Tori Taniguchi Alyson Haslam Wenjie Sun Margaret Sisk Jann Hayman Valarie Blue Bird Jernigan Impact of a Farm-to-School Nutrition and Gardening Intervention for Native American Families from the FRESH Study: A Randomized Wait-List Controlled Trial Nutrients Native American American Indian farm-to-school intervention early childhood education programs community-based participatory research randomized-controlled trial |
| title | Impact of a Farm-to-School Nutrition and Gardening Intervention for Native American Families from the FRESH Study: A Randomized Wait-List Controlled Trial |
| title_full | Impact of a Farm-to-School Nutrition and Gardening Intervention for Native American Families from the FRESH Study: A Randomized Wait-List Controlled Trial |
| title_fullStr | Impact of a Farm-to-School Nutrition and Gardening Intervention for Native American Families from the FRESH Study: A Randomized Wait-List Controlled Trial |
| title_full_unstemmed | Impact of a Farm-to-School Nutrition and Gardening Intervention for Native American Families from the FRESH Study: A Randomized Wait-List Controlled Trial |
| title_short | Impact of a Farm-to-School Nutrition and Gardening Intervention for Native American Families from the FRESH Study: A Randomized Wait-List Controlled Trial |
| title_sort | impact of a farm to school nutrition and gardening intervention for native american families from the fresh study a randomized wait list controlled trial |
| topic | Native American American Indian farm-to-school intervention early childhood education programs community-based participatory research randomized-controlled trial |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/14/13/2601 |
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