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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Nutrition: Gardening Interventions to Increase Vegetable Consumption Among Children

About this resource:

Systematic Review

Source: The Guide to Community Preventive Services

Last Reviewed: December 2017

Workgroups: Nutrition and Weight Status Workgroup

The Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) recommends school-based gardening interventions in combination with nutrition education to increase children’s vegetable consumption. Gardening interventions provide children with hands-on experience planting, growing, and harvesting fruits and vegetables in an effort to increase their willingness to consume them. Interventions  must include at least one of the following: 

  • Outside gardens
  • Microfarms
  • Container gardens
  • Other alternative gardening methods 

CPSTF found that these interventions didn’t increase fruit consumption.

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Objectives related to this resource (3)

Increase fruit consumption by people aged 2 years and over — NWS‑06
Little or no detectable change
Increase vegetable consumption by people aged 2 years and older — NWS‑07
Little or no detectable change
Increase consumption of dark green vegetables, red and orange vegetables, and beans and peas by people aged 2 years and over — NWS‑08
Little or no detectable change

Suggested Citation

1.

Guide to Community Preventive Services. (2017). Nutrition: Gardening Interventions to Increase Vegetable Consumption Among Children. Retrieved from https://www.thecommunityguide.org/findings/nutrition-gardening-interventions-increase-vegetable-consumption-among-children