Background
Research shows that Danish children have unhealthy diets and insufficient physical habits – especially children from vulnerable families. Initiatives to increase children's physical activity and healthy food habits often have short-term or no effects. Research shows that combining a focus on healthy food habits and physical behavior can have positive long-term effects. Healthy dietary behaviors do not only affect health but have likewise shown to affect the climate positively. In the school garden program Gardens to Bellis, school classes visit the school garden eight to ten times, where they have a plot of land and learn how to harvest and cook vegetarian greens together with professional staff such as chefs, biologists, and nature guides. School classes are taught in healthy diets in combination with increased movement behaviors when they are relocated from the classroom. The relocation to an outdoor setting can potentially affect the children's school motivation and climate understanding.
Aim
The aim of the research project FoodACT is to investigate how participation in the school garden program Gardens to Bellis affects children in 4th and 5th grades' food literacy, climate change literacy, school motivation, and physical behavior.
Methods
FoodACT is divided into three sub-studies:
- The first sub-study will quantify the efficacy of the Gardens to Bellis intervention on pupils' food literacy, climate change literacy, and school motivation measured with pre- and post-surveys.
- The second sub-study will investigate the pupils' physical activity levels when participating in the Gardens to Bellis intervention. Physical activity will be measured with accelerometers in a seven-day period, where the intervention is a part of their school week. School garden days will be compared with days where pupils have regular schooling.
- The final sub-study will investigate the pupil's physical behavior by observing the garden sessions and quantify which movements, motions, and postures the pupils perform during the intervention. Additionality, the pupil's experience of being in the school garden will be mapped.
Timeline
The research project will proceed from January 2023 until December 2025.
Financing
The project is supported by the Novo Nordisk Foundation with 4,0 million DKK.
Publications
Stage, A., Otte, C.R., Bentsen, P., Bølling, M. & Elsborg, P. (2023) Nyt forskningsprojekt undersøger effekten af skolehaver på børns maddannelse, bevægelse og skolemotivation. Børn i Fysioterapi, 1, 19-21. (link)
Seminar about school gardens (2023). Center for Clinical Research and Prevention, Center for Children and Nature, Copenhagen University, Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports. (link)