Growing Minds: Evaluating the Relationship between Gardening and Fruit and Vegetable Consumption in Older Adults

Abstract

<jats:p>New dietary guidelines recommend eating more than five servings of fruit and vegetables each day without setting upper limitations. Although older adults tend to report a higher intake of fruit and vegetables than other age groups, over half of the U.S. older population does not meet the recommendation of five daily servings of fruit and vegetables. Research has shown that gardening is one way of improving fruit and vegetable intake. The primary focuses of this study were to examine and compare fruit and vegetable consumption of gardeners and nongardeners and to investigate any differences in fruit and vegetable consumption of long-term gardeners when compared with newer gardeners in adults older than age 50 years. An online survey was designed to be answered by older adults (50 years or older) and respondents self-selected themselves for inclusion in the study. A total of 261 questionnaires was completed. Data collected were analyzed using statistical procedures, including descriptive statistics, Pearson's product-moment correlations, and multivariate analysis of variance. The results of this research supports previous studies that indicated gardeners were more likely to consume vegetables when compared with nongardeners. However, these results were not found with regard to fruit consumption between gardeners and nongardeners. Additionally, the length of time an individual reported having participated in gardening activities seemed to have no relationship to the number of vegetables and fruit reported as consumed, which suggests gardening intervention programs late in life would be an effective method of boosting vegetable and fruit consumption in older adults. Gender was also evaluated with no statistically significant differences found for overall fruit and vegetable intake.</jats:p>

A home‐based mentored vegetable gardening intervention demonstrates feasibility and improvements in physical activity and performance among breast cancer survivors

“…6,7 Vegetable gardening may provide a holistic approach to improving diet quality, physical activity, body weight status, and psychosocial well-being. [8][9][10][11] Vegetable gardening improves access to fresh produce and has been demonstrated to increase vegetable consumption across several populations. 8,9 Healthy senior adults have been shown to meet physical activity recommendations through gardening.…”

“Being Grounded”: Benefits of Gardening for Older Adults in Low-Income Housing

“…Although there are studies that address gardening for older adults for fruits and vegetables (Sommerfield et al, 2011), and there are studies that look at the urban environment (Wakefield et al, 2007), these findings are among the first to address older adults harvesting fruits and vegetables in an urban environment. Data from this study support previous studies that found that elderly people found mental health benefits and relaxation in gardening (Wakefield, Yeudall, Taron, et al, 2007); moreover, this study contributes an additional dimension of understanding.…”

“…This in return may increase health in a way not otherwise affected. One study that looked at nutritional benefits (Sommerfield, McFarland, Waliczek, & Zajick, 2011) found that gardeners were more likely to consume vegetables than nongardeners. Future research possibilities include the potential for a controlled study looking at nutrition and produce consumption among gardeners and nongardeners.…”

“…Future research possibilities include the potential for a controlled study looking at nutrition and produce consumption among gardeners and nongardeners. Also, the current study examined a community program in a community setting (D'Andrea, Batavia, & Sasson, 2007;Sommerfield et al, 2011), whereas many previous studies looked at individual gardening. Although this was not a central finding, it was evident that gardening may increase a sense of community and belonging.…”

Eating Habits and Knowledge of Nutrition in Older Adults: A Comparison of Gardeners and Nongardeners

“…Poor nutrition is one factor that has been linked to the rising cost of healthcare and the consumption of fruit and vegetables has consistently been linked to improved health (Nestle, 2007;Schlettwein-Gsell, 1992). Research on older adults consistently shows that older populations do not consume the proper numbers of servings of fruit and vegetables on a daily basis (Bowman, 2007;Prochaska et al, 2005;Sommerfeld et al, 2010a;Vitolins et al, 2007). Bisogni et al (2002) reported that older adults who were born during World War II consumed fewer fruit and vegetables due to the rationing of nonbasic caloric needs experienced during this time period.…”