2019 ASHS Annual Conference

In collaboration with the Dream Diné Charter School in Shiprock, NM, we developed a school garden intervention phased over 2017 and 2018 to increase fruit and vegetable consumption and reduce risk for obesity among Navajo families. Specifically, we aimed to:

1. Develop a new intervention: a) an enhanced school garden plot used as teaching space, b) a curriculum for elementary school children focusing on gardening & healthy eating; c) community gardening fairs to promote gardening and healthy eating in their families and throughout Shiprock.
2. Evaluate the feasibility of the intervention: participation and perceived engagement.
3. Develop a new tool for dietary assessment: culturally appropriate measure for diet of children and families in the Navajo Nation.
4. Evaluate the intervention to increase: a) healthy eating in students & their families; b) gardening participation; c) preparing healthy foods, and eating healthy foods; d) knowledge, self-efficacy and skills related to gardening.

Parents and students at the school helped develop the garden and curriculum through a serious if focus groups. Quantitative measures like “how many servings of fruits and vegetables” and “How often do you garden” were given at three time points. Yéego Parent Focus Group: There was value in having the garden at their child’s school to see its potential impact on health and learning outcomes. Yéego Student Focus Groups: Students want to observe the life cycle of plants; they want to learn more about gardening; they want to eat what they grow (and grow things they like to eat); and students want to do activities that involve: drawing, reading, writing and math. School garden development: New approaches beyond community garden: Lessons were learned from the Life Lab (Santa Cruz, CA) visit which included: More signage, bench added. Quantitative measures including fruit and vegetable intake and confidence to garden pre and post intervention proved to be non-significant for most categories due to the low intensity of the evaluation. The lessons learned are being applied to a much larger project to be implemented in 2019.