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      A systematic review of the health and well-being impacts of school gardening: synthesis of quantitative and qualitative evidence

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          Abstract

          Background

          School gardening programmes are increasingly popular, with suggested benefits including healthier eating and increased physical activity. Our objectives were to understand the health and well-being impacts of school gardens and the factors that help or hinder their success.

          Methods

          We conducted a systematic review of quantitative and qualitative evidence (PROSPERO CRD42014007181). We searched multiple databases and used a range of supplementary approaches. Studies about school gardens were included if they reported on physical or mental health or well-being. Quantitative studies had to include a comparison group. Studies were quality appraised using appropriate tools. Findings were narratively synthesised and the qualitative evidence used to produce a conceptual framework to illustrate how benefits might be accrued.

          Results

          Evidence from 40 articles (21 quantitative studies; 16 qualitative studies; 3 mixed methods studies) was included. Generally the quantitative research was poor. Evidence for changes in fruit and vegetable intake was limited and based on self-report. The qualitative research was better quality and ascribed a range of health and well-being impacts to school gardens, with some idealistic expectations for their impact in the long term. Groups of pupils who do not excel in classroom activities were thought to particularly benefit. Lack of funding and over reliance on volunteers were thought to threaten success, while involvement with local communities and integration of gardening activities into the school curriculum were thought to support success.

          Conclusion

          More robust quantitative research is needed to convincingly support the qualitative evidence suggesting wide ranging benefits from school gardens.

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          Most cited references45

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          Personal and social factors that influence pro-environmental concern and behaviour: a review.

          We review the personal and social influences on pro-environmental concern and behaviour, with an emphasis on recent research. The number of these influences suggests that understanding pro-environmental concern and behaviour is far more complex than previously thought. The influences are grouped into 18 personal and social factors. The personal factors include childhood experience, knowledge and education, personality and self-construal, sense of control, values, political and world views, goals, felt responsibility, cognitive biases, place attachment, age, gender and chosen activities. The social factors include religion, urban-rural differences, norms, social class, proximity to problematic environmental sites and cultural and ethnic variations We also recognize that pro-environmental behaviour often is undertaken based on none of the above influences, but because individuals have non-environmental goals such as to save money or to improve their health. Finally, environmental outcomes that are a result of these influences undoubtedly are determined by combinations of the 18 categories. Therefore, a primary goal of researchers now should be to learn more about how these many influences moderate and mediate one another to determine pro-environmental behaviour.
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            The social development model: An integrated approach to delinquency prevention.

            This paper describes a comprehensive developmental approach to preventing youth crime based on the social development model, an integration of social control theory and social learning theory. The model asserts that the most important units of socialization, family, schools, peers, and community, influence behavior sequentially. Positive socialization is achieved when youths have the opportunity within each unit to be involved in conforming activities, when they develop skills necessary to be successfully involved, and when those with whom they interact consistently reward desired behaviors. These conditions should increase attachment to others, commitment to conforming behavior, and belief in the conventional order. These social bonds to conventional society inhibit association with delinquent pers and, in turn, prevent delinquent behavior. The paper describes prevention approaches consistent with the model. Rigorous evaluation of the delinquency prevention effects of these interventions is needed.
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              School gardens: an experiential learning approach for a nutrition education program to increase fruit and vegetable knowledge, preference, and consumption among second-grade students.

              To examine the effects of a school garden on children's fruit and vegetable knowledge, preference, and consumption. Self-report questionnaires, interview-style taste and rate items, lunchroom observations. An elementary school. Second-grade students (n = 115). Participants were assigned to one of 3 groups: (1) nutrition education and gardening (NE+G) treatment group, (2) nutrition education only (NE) treatment group, or (3) control group (CG). Both treatment groups received classroom instruction, and the NE+G group also received a school gardening experience. Fruit and vegetable knowledge, preference, and consumption. Analyses of variance (alpha = .05). Participants in the NE+G and NE treatment groups exhibited significantly greater improvements in nutrition knowledge and taste ratings than did participants in the CG. Moreover, the NE+G group was more likely to choose and consume vegetables in a lunchroom setting at post-assessment than either the NE or CG groups. School gardens as a component of nutrition education can increase fruit and vegetable knowledge and cause behavior change among children. These findings suggest that school administrators, classroom teachers, and nutrition educators should implement school gardens as a way to positively influence dietary habits at an early age.
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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                heather@ohly.co.uk
                sarah.gentry@doctors.org.uk
                rachel.wigglesworth@nhs.net
                A.Bethel@exeter.ac.uk
                R.Lovell@exeter.ac.uk
                R.Garside@exeter.ac.uk
                Journal
                BMC Public Health
                BMC Public Health
                BMC Public Health
                BioMed Central (London )
                1471-2458
                25 March 2016
                25 March 2016
                2016
                : 16
                : 286
                Affiliations
                [ ]European Centre for Environment and Human Health, University of Exeter Medical School, Truro, Cornwall UK
                [ ]Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Norwich, Norfolk UK
                [ ]NIHR CLAHRC South West Peninsula (PenCLAHRC), University of Exeter Medical School, Exeter, Devon UK
                Article
                2941
                10.1186/s12889-016-2941-0
                4807565
                27015672
                6ae95238-df52-49b3-8a68-c66689fc842e
                © Ohly et al. 2016

                Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.

                History
                : 4 November 2015
                : 8 March 2016
                Funding
                Funded by: European Social Fund Convergence Programme for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly
                Categories
                Research Article
                Custom metadata
                © The Author(s) 2016

                Public health
                school,gardens,systematic review,health,well-being,mixed methods
                Public health
                school, gardens, systematic review, health, well-being, mixed methods

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