Growing greener kids

What part can school gardens play in encouraging healthy food choices?

In kitchens throughout Australia, many parents are worrying about their children's diet.

Temptation lurks everywhere in an unhealthy mix of readily available junk food and energy drinks, pernicious advertising and the siren call of sedentary activities. What can parents do to set a good example and encourage their children to make healthy food choices?

According to ACU's Associate Professor Shawn Somerset, an expert in nutrition and public health, the answer could lie in a very simple place – school gardens.

Working with colleagues at the University of Texas, Brisbane-based Associate Professor Somerset has published research which found that school gardens can have a positive effect on children's health and behaviour, as well as the environment.

"We discovered that children who are involved with school gardens eat more vegetables and fruit. We also found that these children are willing to taste and cook a greater variety of vegetables and fruit and demonstrate improved behaviour both at home and in the classroom," he said.

Garden champions

School gardens are rapidly growing in popularity in schools across the world. They have been championed by the likes of Michelle Obama and Jamie Oliver. The doyenne of Australian cookery, Stephanie Alexander, AO, is so passionate about them that she set up her own not-for-profit foundation to teach primary school children to grow, harvest and prepare vegetables. 

Associate Professor Somerset said the research indicated that school gardens have positive implications for sustainability, as well as children's health.

"School gardens are a great model to integrate nutrition, environmental sustainability and education objectives. They introduce children to their local environment and encourage them to take care of it."

But he said that further research was now needed to understand how to achieve long-term improvements in dietary behaviours and how to sustain and develop the programs in schools.

"Installing and using school gardens is not complicated, and many successful gardens have run purely on the energy of local school communities."

So – the evidence is clear.  School gardens develop children's confidence, curiosity, and taste buds. They can, potentially, support positive lifelong eating habits too.

Learn more about studying public health and administration at ACU.

Related stories

Future student

The day in the life of a sport and exercise science student

As an athlete whose day always begins with an early gym session, a Bachelor of Sport and Exercise Science was a natural fit for Amelia Russo.

Community

Growing greener kids

What part can school gardens play in encouraging healthy food choices?

Community

Old solutions to new problems

Bradley Moggridge is on a mission to save Australia’s water, by combining traditional Indigenous knowledge with modern science.

Community

Serving in silence: the secret lives of LGBTI diggers in Australia’s defence forces

Dedicated historians are shedding light on the lives of those who served.

Community

Finding a forbidden language

Toltu Tufa prints children’s books in Oromo, a language once forbidden in Ethiopia. 

Community

The power of youth

Nicola Parkes is the 2019 Young Alumni of the Year winner who has dedicated her life to youth work. She's already achieved so much, but for Nicola, she's just getting started.

Community

Turning points in history - the gold rush

We might not have thought about the gold rush since a long forgotten school excursion, but Dr Benjamin Mountford says this era created a lasting global impact we still feel today. 

Career

The future of IT

Information technology has always been an industry that leads others to the future. So, what does it take to have a future in the field?

Career

Divine appointment

When theology graduate Fr John Sanderson was deployed to Afghanistan as a military chaplain, his weapon was a peaceful demeanour.

Career

Trackside at MotoGP

High speed motorbikes, pumping adrenaline – MotoGP is not for the faint hearted. ACU staff and students go up close and personal.

Career

Speech pathologists aren’t all talk. Here’s how they listen so you can have your say.

Helping clients manage their stuttering is what most of us think speech pathologists do all day, every day. Here's the reality.

Career

The right man for the job

Nurse Jacob Mitchell always understood he was pursuing a career in a female-dominated industry. But here's why Jacob said his less-than-traditional role is right where he wants to be.