Research
Adherence
Farm-to-school programs and school gardens show promise in increasing fruit and vegetable intake and meal participation, but rigorous evaluation is lacking.
Schools interested in improving student diets should consider farm-to-school or garden programs. While they cost more in labor, they can increase fruit/vegetable intake and meal participation. More research is needed to confirm long-term impacts.
ModerateQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
Although the findings are preliminary, they suggest some promise in the greater number of school salad bars, higher school meal participation, changes in students’ attitudes and behaviors in trying new foods, and increased fruit and vegetable intake (Martin 2008).
Why this rating
Based on preliminary findings and few peer-reviewed studies.
Source
Schools and Obesity Prevention: Creating School Environments and Policies to Promote Healthy Eating and Physical Activity
Mary Story et al. · Milbank Quarterly · 2009
DOI 10.1111/j.1468-0009.2009.00548.x
narrative_reviewCited 838×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- The widespread availability of competitive foods (sodas, snacks) in schools is causally linked to increased total calorie, fat, and sugar intake and decreased fruit and vegetable consumption in students.Good
- Adding up to one hour of daily physical activity to the school curriculum does not negatively impact academic achievement and may improve learning efficiency.Good
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