. 2015 Feb 23;18(13):2358–2367. doi: 10.1017/S1368980015000221

Table 1.

Studies included in the present review of school garden-based programmes on health outcomes in children

Reference	Location	Population	Design	Outcome measures	Results
Wright and Rowell (2010)⁽ ¹⁶ ⁾	Green Bay, WI, USA	K–5th grade students (n 234)	Quasi-experimental design:	Vegetable selection and intake from salad bar	Increased selection of vegetables from the salad bar
		>70 % Caucasian >50 % low SES	∙ One intervention school Intervention details: ∙ 10 weeks of a salad bar in school ∙ 3 weeks of in-class gardening lessons
Hermann et al. (2006)⁽ ¹⁷ ⁾	Stillwater, OK, USA	K–8th grade students (n 43)	Quasi-experimental design:	Vegetable intake	Increases in vegetables intake
		>70 % Native American No data on SES	∙ One intervention school Intervention details: ∙ One 90 min lesson per week for all grades for one school year; taught during after-school hours	Physical activity	Increases in physical activity
Lineberger and Zajicek (2000)⁽ ¹⁸ ⁾	College Station, TX, USA	3rd–5th graders (n 111)	Quasi-experimental design:	F&V attitudes and preferences	Attitudes towards vegetables and preferences for vegetables improved
		No data on ethnicity or SES	∙ Five intervention schools Intervention details: ∙ Ten units taught in-class over one school year ∙ Nutrition education+gardening and cooking activities	Dietary intake (via 24 h recall workbooks)	F&V intake did not change significantly
Ratcliffe et al. (2011)⁽ ¹⁹ ⁾	San Francisco, CA, USA	6th grade students (n 320)	Non-randomized intervention:	Vegetable variety and intake	Improved identification, attitudes, preferences and willingness to taste vegetables
		>90 % minority >60 % low SES	∙ Intervention (two schools; n 170) ∙ Control (one school; n 150) Intervention details: ∙ Weekly lessons for 4 months taught during school hours ∙ Included taste testing and cooking components, and a ‘salad day’ at school with harvested vegetables	Identification, attitudes, preferences and willingness to taste vegetables	Increased vegetable variety consumed Vegetable intake did not increase
Somerset and Markwell (2009)⁽ ²⁰ ⁾	Brisbane, Australia	4th–7th grade students (n 252)	Non-randomized intervention:	Identification, attitudes and self-efficacy towards F&V	Increased ability to identify F&V
		Primarily low SES Indigenous and migrant populations	∙ Historical control (n 132) ∙ Intervention (one school; n 120) Intervention details: ∙ Weekly garden in-class lessons over 12 months ∙ Included food production and preparation		Greater attention to origins of produce Increased attitudes towards F&V Changes to perceived F&V consumption Enhanced confidence in preparing F&V snacks
Gibbs et al. (2013)⁽ ²¹ ⁾	Victoria, Australia	3rd–6th grade students (n 764)	Non-randomized intervention:	Willingness, attitudes and preference to eat F&V	Students reported: (i) enjoyment of trying new foods; (ii) willingness to try new foods; (iii) eating more vegetables; (iv) increased perception of healthy foods; (v) enjoyment of cultural food; (vi) ability to taste the ‘freshness’
		562 parents >50 % low SES No data on ethnicity	∙ Programme schools (six schools) ∙ Comparison schools (six schools, matched on SES and size) Intervention details: ∙ Weekly in-class garden+kitchen lessons taught for two school years	Student and parent dietary intake Teacher surveys (n 45)	Teachers reported an increase in good quality of school snacks and lunches Parents reported children were more willing to try new foods Classroom observations revealed children were willing to try more foods No change in student/parent dietary intake
Parmer et al. (2009)⁽ ²² ⁾	Auburn, AL, USA	2nd grade students (n 115)	Non-randomized intervention:	F&V knowledge, preference and intake	NE+G and NE, compared with C, had improvements in nutrition knowledge and preferences
		No data on ethnicity or SES	∙ Nutrition education+gardening (NE+G; n 39) ∙ Nutrition education only (NE; n 37) ∙ Control group (C; n 39) Intervention details: ∙ Bimonthly (every other week) in-class lessons taught for 28 weeks	Lunchroom observation	Students in NE+G (compared with either NE or G alone) more likely to consume vegetables in lunchroom
Morris and Zidenberg-Cherr (2002)⁽ ²³ ⁾	Davis, CA, USA	4th grade students (n 213)	Non-randomized intervention:	Students and parents:	NE and NE+G compared with C increased nutrition and gardening knowledge and vegetable preference
Morris et al. (2008)⁽ ²⁸ ⁾		>65 % Caucasian, 17 % Hispanic	∙ Control (C; n 49) ∙ Nutrition education only (NE; n 60) ∙ Nutrition education+gardening (NE+G; n 63) Intervention details: ∙ Nine in-class lessons taught over 17 weeks	Nutrition/gardening knowledge Vegetable preference	Vegetable preference increased the most in the NE+G group and was retained at 6 months Parents increased knowledge and vegetable preference
McAleese and Rankin (2007)⁽ ²⁴ ⁾	Pocatello, ID, USA	6th grade students (n 99)	Non-randomized intervention:	Student dietary intake (via three 24 h food recall workbooks)	Increased F&V consumption, vitamin A, vitamin C and fibre intakes in Exp School 2 only
		No data on ethnicity or SES	∙ Control (n 25) ∙ Experimental School 1: nutrition/garden weekly lessons (n 25) ∙ Experimental School 2: nutrition/garden weekly lessons+garden hands-on activities (n 45) Intervention details: ∙ 12-week after-school programme		No significant changes in Exp School 1 or control
Morgan et al. (2010)⁽ ²⁵ ⁾	New South Wales, Australia	5th–6th grade students (n 127)	Non-randomized intervention:	F&V identification, knowledge and willingness to taste	NE and NE+G, compared with Control, had increases in willingness to taste vegetables and preferences for vegetables
		No data on ethnicity or SES	∙ Nutrition education (NE; n 35) ∙ Nutrition education+gardening (NE+G; n 35) ∙ Control (n 57) Intervention details: ∙ 10 weeks, taught by classroom teachers	Vegetable preference Dietary intake (via 24 h diet recalls)	NE+G compared with Control had increases in F&V knowledge NE+G compared with other groups had greater ability to identify vegetables No change in dietary intake
Evans et al. (2012)⁽ ²⁶ ⁾	Austin, TX, USA	6th–7th grade students (n 246) Ethnically diverse schools Primarily low SES	∙ Non-randomized intervention: ∙ Intervention (four schools; n 176) ∙ Control (one school; n 70) Intervention details: ∙ Twelve in-class lessons and once weekly after-school gardening component over 5 months ∙ Components included: (i) farm-to-school; (ii) farmers visit to school (twice in 5 months); (iii) taste test activities; (iv) field trips to farms	F&V intake (via FFQ) Preference, knowledge, self-efficacy and motivation for F&V	Students exposed to ≥2 v.<2 components: had higher F&V intake, self-efficacy, knowledge and lower preference for unhealthy foods
Gatto et al. (2012)⁽ ²⁷ ⁾Davis et al. (2011)⁽ ² ⁾	Los Angeles, CA, USA	4th–5th grade students (n 104)>93 % Hispanic Primarily low SES	Non-randomized intervention:∙ Control (delayed intervention; n 70)∙ Intervention (n 34)Intervention details:∙ Weekly after-school lessons for 12 weeks∙ Included cooking components and farmers’ market visits	Motivation to eat F&VSelf-efficacy to garden, cook and eat F&VDietary intake (via screener) BMI, body fat, waist circumference, BP	Intervention group compared with Control had: (i) increases in preferences for vegetables, self-efficacy to cook and garden and dietary fibre intake; (ii) decreases in diastolic BP; (iii) decreases in BMI and weight gain (in overweight subsample only)
Wang et al. (2010)⁽ ¹⁵ ⁾	Berkeley, CA, USA	4th and 5th grade students (n 179)Ethnically diverse 39 % low SES	Prospective design:∙ Two schools with HIGH garden intervention development (n 72)∙ Two schools with LOW intervention (n 107)Intervention details:∙ Weekly in-class lessons taught over two school years (instruction hours ranged from 0 to 24 h over 2 years)	F&V knowledge, attitudes and preferences	Students with HIGH exposure had increases in F&V intake inside and outside school and increases in F&V preference

K, kindergarten; SES, socio-economic status; F&V, fruit and vegetables; BP, blood pressure.