Department of Dietetics, Food, and Nutrition, Lehman College, City University of New York, Bronx, NY.
Program in Nutrition, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY.
J Nutr Educ Behav. 2019 Nov-Dec;51(10):1139-1149. doi: 10.1016/j.jneb.2019.06.020. Epub 2019 Jul 23.
To explore the degree and predictors of and barriers to school garden integration (termed success).
A 30-item online survey consisting of demographic, garden characteristic, and barrier questions, as well as the School Garden Integration Scale, was conducted in 266 school garden organizations (13 national, 8 regional, and 245 state or local).
A total of 414 school gardeners from 38 states and Puerto Rico.
School garden success using the GREEN Tool.
Descriptive statistics were used to determine the degree of success of school garden programs and explore barriers. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to determine independent predictors of school garden success.
The average score was 37 (range 1-53, of a possible 57 points), indicating moderate success. Operating budget (P < .001), operating time (P < .05), and planting in-ground (P < .01) had a positive significant influence on success score, whereas rural location (P < .01) and lacking community interest (P < .01) had a negative significant influence, controlling for race/ethnicity, region, total garden investment, and Community Need Index score (a proxy for socioeconomic status).
Results indicate that success of school garden programs may be more difficult for the schools located in a rural area or in the absence of school or community-at-large interest. This study found that race/ethnicity of students and socioeconomic status are not related to success score, which is promising as other research indicates that successful school gardens may be especially impactful for low-income people of color. Causal research is needed to identify strategies that increase school garden success, with a focus on engaging key stakeholders (administrators, teachers, parents, the community at large, and garden coordinators).
探索学校花园融合（成功）的程度、预测因素和障碍。
对 266 个学校花园组织（13 个全国性、8 个地区性和 245 个州或地方性组织）进行了一项包含人口统计、花园特征和障碍问题以及学校花园融合量表的 30 项在线调查。
来自 38 个州和波多黎各的 414 名学校园丁。
使用 GREEN 工具评估学校花园的成功。
采用描述性统计方法确定学校花园项目的成功程度，并探讨障碍。进行多元回归分析以确定学校花园成功的独立预测因素。
平均得分为 37 分（范围为 1-53 分，满分为 57 分），表明取得了中等程度的成功。运营预算（P <.001）、运营时间（P <.05）和地面种植（P <.01）对成功得分有积极显著影响，而农村位置（P <.01）和缺乏社区兴趣（P <.01）对成功得分有负向显著影响，控制种族/民族、地区、总花园投资和社区需求指数得分（社会经济地位的代表）。
结果表明，位于农村地区或缺乏学校或社区整体兴趣的学校，其学校花园项目的成功可能更为困难。本研究发现，学生的种族/民族和社会经济地位与成功得分无关，这是有希望的，因为其他研究表明，成功的学校花园可能对低收入有色人种尤其有影响力。需要进行因果研究以确定增加学校花园成功的策略，重点是吸引主要利益相关者（管理人员、教师、家长、社区和花园协调员）。
