A recent study from UTHealth Houston found that metabolic indicators including blood sugar and cholesterol in kids can be improved by school garden-based treatments.
Researchers from the University of Texas at Austin and the UTHealth Houston School of Public Health found that the Texas Sprouts gardening, cooking, and nutrition program implemented in Austin’s elementary schools helped high-risk minority children’s blood sugar control and bad cholesterol levels. The results were published today in JAMA Network Open.
“The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends 2.5 cups of vegetables per day for children 9 to 13 years old,” said Adriana Pérez, PhD, senior author of the study and professor of biostatistics and data science with the Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living at UTHealth Houston School of Public Health. “Texas Sprouts incorporates nutrition, gardening, and cooking components that improved glucose control and reduced bad cholesterol in children.”
Researchers studied 16 low-income primary schools with a mostly Hispanic student body in the greater Austin area from 2016 to 2019. Texas Sprout’s intervention or delayed intervention were given at random to the schools.
Texas Sprouts spanned the nine-month school year and involved the formation of a Garden Leadership Committee; a quarter-acre outdoor teaching garden; a series of 18 student gardening, nutrition, and cooking lessons taught by trained educators throughout the school year; and nine monthly parent lessons. The subsequent academic year saw the implementation of the delayed intervention, which received the same treatment.
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends 2.5 cups of vegetables per day for children 9 to 13 years old. Texas Sprouts incorporates nutrition, gardening, and cooking components that improved glucose control and reduced bad cholesterol in children.
Professor Adriana Pérez
The researchers examined the students’ height, weight, and body mass index (BMI) parameters, in addition to their blood tests for glucose, insulin, insulin resistance, and lipids, which measure the quantity of specific fat molecules called lipids in the blood via an optional fasting blood draw.
Compared to schools in the control group, Texas Sprouts schools saw a 0.02% reduction in HbA1c, or mean blood sugar levels over the past three months, and a 6.4 mg/dL reduction in bad cholesterol, indicating a reduced risk of diabetes and prediabetes among this population. On glucose, insulin, insulin resistance, or other lipid markers, the intervention had no effects.
Based on the study results, Perez said more elementary schools should incorporate garden-based interventions.
“Small increases in dietary fiber and vegetable intake, as well as reductions in added sugar intake, may have combined effects on lowering bad cholesterol and improving glucose control,” said Pérez, who is based in Austin.
Other co-authors from UTHealth Houston School of Public Health Austin Campus included Deanna M. Hoelscher, PhD, RDN, campus dean and director of the Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living; and Alexandra E. van den Berg, PhD, MPH, professor in the Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences and associate director of the center.
Additional co-authors, all with The University of Texas at Austin, were Jaimie N. Davis, PhD, RD; Matthew J. Landry, PhD, RDN; Sarvenaz Vandyousefi, PhD, MS, RD; Matthew R. Jeans, MS, MM; and Erin A. Hudson. Landry is also with Stanford University, while Vandyousefi is also with New York University School of Medicine, and Jeans is affiliated with The Health Management Academy in Virginia.
