Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, College of Design, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA.
Department of Human Centered Design, College of Human Ecology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Dec 10;18(24):13066. doi: 10.3390/ijerph182413066.
Childcare garden interventions may be an effective strategy to increase fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption and physical activity among young children. The objective of this paper is to describe the research design, protocol, outcome measures, and baseline characteristics of participants in the Childcare Outdoor Learning Environments as Active Food Systems ("COLEAFS") study, a cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) examining the effect of a garden intervention on outcomes related to diet and physical activity. Fifteen childcare centers in low-income areas were randomly assigned to intervention (to receive garden intervention in Year 1), waitlist control (to receive garden intervention in Year 2), and control group (no intervention). The garden intervention comprised six raised beds planted with warm-season vegetables and fruits, and a garden activity booklet presenting 12 gardening activities. FV knowledge and FV liking were measured using a tablet-enabled protocol. FV consumption was measured by weighing FV before and after a snack session. Physical activity was measured using Actigraph GT3x+ worn by children for three consecutive days while at the childcare center. Of the 543 eligible children from the 15 childcare centers, 250 children aged 3-5 years received parental consent, assented, and participated in baseline data collection. By employing an RCT to examine the effect of a garden intervention on diet and physical activity among young children attending childcare centers within low-income communities, this study offers compelling research design and methods, addresses a critical gap in the empirical literature, and is a step toward evidence-based regulations to promote early childhood healthy habits.
儿童保育花园干预措施可能是增加幼儿水果和蔬菜（FV）消费和身体活动的有效策略。本文的目的是描述“儿童保育户外学习环境作为积极食品系统（COLEAFS）”研究的研究设计、方案、结果测量和参与者的基线特征，这是一项群组随机对照试验（RCT），旨在研究花园干预对与饮食和身体活动相关的结果的影响。15 家位于低收入地区的儿童保育中心被随机分配到干预组（在第 1 年接受花园干预）、候补对照组（在第 2 年接受花园干预）和对照组（无干预）。花园干预包括六个高架床，种植了温暖季节的蔬菜和水果，以及一本花园活动手册，介绍了 12 种园艺活动。使用平板电脑协议测量 FV 知识和 FV 喜好。通过称重零食前后的 FV 来测量 FV 消耗。通过在儿童保育中心佩戴 Actigraph GT3x+ 连续三天测量 3-5 岁儿童的身体活动。在来自 15 家儿童保育中心的 543 名符合条件的儿童中，有 250 名 3-5 岁的儿童获得了父母的同意、同意并参与了基线数据收集。本研究采用 RCT 方法来检验花园干预对低收入社区儿童保育中心幼儿饮食和身体活动的影响，提供了引人注目的研究设计和方法，填补了实证文献的空白，并朝着促进幼儿健康习惯的循证法规迈出了一步。
