
Tending a garden can help young kids develop healthy attitudes about food that will influence their health years later, a new study says. Kids who participated in a gardening and food education program during elementary school were more likely to eat healthier as they grew up, researchers found. “Kids who grow vegetables in a school garden and learn how to prepare meals seem to show a lasting desire for fresh, healthy food as young adults,” lead author Christine St. Pierre, a doctoral candidate and researcher at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, said in a news release. For the study, researchers brought together focus groups made up of current and past participants in the FoodPrints food education program, which is offered in 20 elementary schools in Washington, D.C. On average, older participants in the focus groups were ninth-graders. The program starts when students are 3 years old, in pre-kindergarten, and continues through fifth grade. In the program, kids help grow vegetables and fruits in a school garden, harvest their produce, and then use it to prepare healthy food. Current and former participants said the program helped them better appreciate fresh food offerings at home. “Almost all of the foods that we eat in FoodPrints, I didn’t really eat at home before then,” one participant said. “Like I didn’t eat ABC [apple,… read on > read on >