In The Fight Against Pediatric Obesity, AgriLife Extension To Lead Focus On Gardening To Increase Childhood Activities

Another attempt by the grossly stupid to sell fecklessness as effectiveness.

The use of family-focused gardening in the fight against childhood obesity may become a growing trend with a near $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to a Texas higher education partnership.

The project, "Texas Grow! Eat! Go!," will involve horticulturists, nutritionists, physical activity experts and public health leaders from the Texas AgriLife Extension Service, Texas A&M University and the University of Texas.

"We want to test the impact of several Extension programs on behaviors related to childhood obesity and track any changes in obesity related to the programs," said Dr. Judy Warren, AgriLife Extension special initiatives coordinator and principal investigator.

"We're bringing together a multi-disciplinary team capable of evaluating the approach to determine whether the programs change levels of child obesity, are cost-effective and are sustainable. We are building on the Coordinated School Health program required in public schools."

A leading factor in the effort is that AgriLife Extension's Junior Master Gardener program, which has demonstrated that children who grow vegetables are more likely to taste and like them, Warren noted.

"It isn't so much about nutrition facts (in combating obesity) as it is to get kids to taste nutritious foods and enjoy them," she said. "Incorporating experiential learning can be effective in improving health-related behaviors and academic learning in science, as previous research on Junior Master Gardeners has shown. We are also using Walk Across Texas, a fun, physical activity program that AgriLife Extension has available for schools."

Efforts undone instantly at home.

Doomed to fail.