Gardening is good for your health… and that from an early age. Children whose schools have a vegetable garden see their blood sugar levels and bad cholesterol levels decrease.
- A child’s total cholesterol level is said to be “high” if it is greater than 2 g/litre of blood. The bad cholesterol (LDL) level should not exceed 1.30 g/l of blood for its part.
- We speak of hyperglycemia in children if the sugar level is greater than 160 mg/dl after meals and greater than 130 mg/dl on an empty stomach.
We don’t really associate bad cholesterol and high blood sugar with conditions that can affect children. However, some small ones show higher rates than the recommended standards.
One of the ways to combat this problem would be to generalize gardens within schools, according to a study carried out by theUTHealth Houston School of Public Health and the University of Texas at Austin.
Pupils learned to grow vegetables at school
The researchers followed students from 16 primary schools between 2016 and 2019. Some participated in the program Texas Sprouts, and others not. This project provides for the establishment of a vegetable garden within the establishment, a series of 18 gardening, nutrition and cooking lessons given to children throughout the school year as well as 9 monthly lessons given to parents. .
During the experiment, the team measured the children’s height, weight and body mass index (BMI). Their blood sugar levels as well as their insulin levels, their insulin resistance and their lipid profile were analyzed by means of a fasting blood test (optional).
Scientists found that students who participated in the gardening program showed a 0.02% decrease in their average blood sugar over the past three months (HbA1c) and a 6.4 mg/dL drop in blood sugar. bad cholesterol. Young growers thus had a reduced risk of diabetes and prediabetes. On the other hand, “there was no effect on insulin, insulin resistance, or other lipid parameters”say the authors.
Vegetable garden at school: increased consumption of fruits and vegetables
As previous studies on school gardening had already highlighted, the presence of a vegetable garden within a school increases children’s consumption of fruit and vegetables. This element may have contributed to the improvement of blood sugar and cholesterol levels.
“Small increases in dietary fiber and vegetable intake, along with reductions in added sugar intake, may have combined effects in lowering bad cholesterol and improving blood sugar control”confirmed Pr Adriana Pérez, researcher at the UTHealth Houston School of Public Health and author of the study published on January 10, 2023 in the journal JAMA Network Open.
Given the results obtained, the scientist and her team recommend the development of interventions based on gardening in schools.
