Effect of home vegetable gardening on the household availability of fruits and vegetables

GOMES, Fabio da Silva; SILVA, Gulnar Azevedo e; CASTRO, Inês Rugani Ribeiro de

doi:10.1590/1678-98652017000200009

ABSTRACT

Objective:

Evaluate the effect of planting herb or vegetable seeds and seedlings on the household availability of fruits and vegetables through an intervention study combining various actions (educational practices, home visits, and distribution of seeds and seedlings) for the promotion of fruit and vegetable consumption in multiple settings.

Methods:

Data from 70 families were analyzed. Using the stratified sampling technique, the participant families were selected from a stratum within a population of 1,743 families living in three low-income communities in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Three post-intervention groups were formed and compared: families that did not receive the seeds and seedlings during the intervention; families that received but did not plant the seeds and seedlings; families that received and planted the seeds and seedlings.

Results:

Among the families that did not grow their own fruits and vegetables before the intervention, those that received and planted the seeds and seedlings achieved an increase in household availability of fruits and vegetables (Δ=+5.8 percentage points) up to three times higher (p<0.05) than that achieved by the families who did not receive the seeds and seedlings (Δ=+1.8 5 percentage points) and those that received but did not plant them (Δ=+2.3 percentage points). As for the families that grew their own fruits and vegetables before the intervention, the comparison between those that did not receive the seeds and seedlings, those that received and planted them, and those that received but did not plant them showed no differences in the household availability of fruits and vegetables.

Conclusion:

The planting of the seeds and seedlings that they received by the families that did not grow their own fruits and vegetables before the intervention contributed to a significant increase in the household availability of fruits and vegetables.

Keywords:
Evaluation Studies; Gardening; Health Promotion; Social Participation; Vegetables

[1] Correspondência para/Correspondence to: FS GOMES. E-mail: <fabiodasilvagomes@gmail.com>.

Average monthly household per capita income (R$)	Antares	(=781)	Cinco Marias (=788)		Cesário de Melo (=781)		All communities (=1,743)
	119	(89;149)^a	240	(191;289)^b	119	(84;261)^a,b	177	(150;204)
	%	95%CI	%	95%CI	%	95%CI	%	95%CI
Number of household members
4 or less	42.5	(16.5 ; 68.5)	41.0	(27.4 ; 54.6)	36.5	(4.7 ; 68.2)	41.2	(27.7 ; 54.8)
5 or more	57.5	(31.5 ; 83.5)	59.0	(45.4 ; 72.6)	63.5	(31.8 ; 95.3)	58.8	(45.2 ; 72.3)
Respondent's level of education	a		b		c
Illiterate	6.3	(0.0 ; 16.8)	0.0		0.0		2.7	(0.0 ; 7.3)
Literate	4.3	(0.0 ; 12.1)	0.0		0.0		1.9	(0.0 ; 5.3)
Incomplete Elementary and/or Middle School	41.0	(18.9 ; 63.1)	71.2	(59.0 ; 83.3)	36.4	(4.7 ; 68.2)	54.5	(42.8 ; 66.1)
Complete Elementary and/or Middle School	26.4	(9.7 ; 43.2)	13.7	(3.4 ; 24.0)	21.9	(0.0 ; 51.2)	20.1	(10.8 ; 29.3)
Incomplete High School	4.3	(0.0 ; 12.1)	8.5	(1.8 ; 15.2)	21.9	(0.0 ; 51.2)	8.0	(2.5 ; 13.5)
Complete High School	17.7	(0.0 ; 37.7)	4.7	(0.0 ; 9.8)	19.8	(0.0 ; 46.7)	11.9	(2.4 ; 21.4)
College/University or Graduate School	0.0		1.9	(0.0 ; 5.5)	0.0		0.9	(0.0 ; 2.5)
Families that grew fruits before the intervention	4.1	(0.0 ; 11.5)^a	54.5	(38.6 ; 70.4)^b	51.1	(24.2 ; 78.0)^b	31.6	(23.2 ; 40.0)
Families that grew vegetables before the intervention	9.8	(0.0 ; 20.6)	8.4	(0.4 ; 16.4)	14.6	(0.0 ; 40.4)	9.6	(3.1 ; 16.2)
Families that grew fruits and/or vegetables before the intervention	13.9	(0.8 ; 27.0)^a	59.6	(44.0 ; 75.2)^b	51.1	(24.2 ; 78.0)^b	38.3	(28.7 ; 47.8)
Families that received herb or vegetable seeds and seedlings	54.5	(28.5 ; 80.5)	67.4	(52.4 ; 82.3)	48.7	(19.6 ; 77.7)	59.8	(45.9 ; 73.7)
Families that planted seeds and/or seedlings they received	29.4	(2.0 ; 56.8)	41.5	(20.2 ; 62.9)	8.5	(0.0 ; 24.1)	31.1	(15.9 ; 46.2)

Average monthly household per capita income (R$)	Did not receive herb or vegetable SSds (=660)		Received SSds but did not plant them (=567)		Received and planted SSds (=307)
	161	(106 ; 215)	149	(105 ; 193)		155	(131 ; 180)
	%	95%CI	%	95%CI	%	95%CI
Number of household members	a		a		b
4 or less	41.6	(21.2 ; 62.1)	30.3	(11.0 ; 49.6)		75.4	(52.1 ; 92.7)
5 or more	58.4	(37.9 ; 78.8)	69.7	(50.4 ; 89.0)		24.6	(1.3 ; 47.9)
Respondent's level of education	a		a			b
Illiterate	0.0		8.3	(0.0 ; 21.1)		0.0
Literate	0.0		5.6	(4.3 ; 15.6)		0.0
Incomplete elementary and/or middle school	43.6	(25.0 ; 62.2)	45.4	(25.6 ; 65.3)		78.8	(58.4 ; 99.1)
Complete elementary and/or middle school	24.4	(8.4 ; 40.3)	24.8	(6.5 ; 43.3)		16.4	(0.0 ; 34.7)
Incomplete high school	15.2	(1.9 ; 28.5)	5.3	(0.0 ; 12.0)		0.0
Complete high school	16.8	(0.0 ; 35.4)	10.5	(0.0 ; 24.2)		0.0
College/University or graduate school	0.0		0.0			4.8	(0.0 ; 14.1)
Families that grew F before the intervention	44.6	(26.7 ; 62.5)	23.6	(9.7 ; 37.5)		16.4	(0.0 ; 34.7)
Families that grew V before the intervention	11.3	(0.0 ; 23.7)	12.0	(0.0 ; 25.6)		8.2	(0.0 ; 22.9)
Families that grew F and/or V before the intervention	50.4	(31.7 ; 69.1)	33.0	(15.3 ; 50.6)		24.6	(1.3 ; 47.9)
Families with children attending schools that participated in the intervention	48.0	(28.8 ; 67.1)	72.0	(54.3 ; 89.8)		72.8	(47.3 ; 98.3)
Exposure of the families to the actions for the promotion of FV consumption carried out by the CHWs	a		b			b
Families visited <1 per month; the CHW rarely/never mentioned FV	53.7	(34.4 ; 72.9)	32.7	(12.8 ; 52.6)		31.3	(6.4 ; 56.1)
Families visited <1 per month; the CHW sometimes mentioned FV	0.0		0.0			0.0
Families visited <1 per month; the CHW always mentioned FV	3.8	(0.0 ; 10.7)	24.1	(4.0; 44.2)		30.2	(0.0 ; 62.6)
Families visited 1-3 times per month; the CHW rarely/never mentioned FV	14.8	(2.88 ; 26.7)	14.8	(2.7 ; 27.0)		29.5	(3.4 ; 55.7)
Families visited 1-3 times per month; the CHW sometimes mentioned FV	18.9	(0.2 ; 37.7)	0.0			0.0
Families visited 1-3 times per month; the CHW always mentioned FV	4.8	(0.0 ; 13.5)	11.3	(0.0 ; 23.7)		4.1	(0.0 ; 11.9)
Families visited once per month; the CHW rarely/never mentioned FV	0.0		10.2	(0.0 ; 21.3)		0.0
Families visited once per month; the CHW sometimes mentioned FV	0.0		0.0			4.8	(0.0 ; 14.1)
Families visited once per month; the CHW always mentioned FV	3.8	(0.0 ; 10.7)	6.8	(0.0 ; 15.8)		0.0

Families that grew fruits and/or vegetables before the intervention
Availability*	Did not receive herb or vegetable seeds and seedlings		Received but did not plant the seeds and seedlings		Received and planted the seeds and seedlings
Availability*	Mean	(95%CI)	Mean	(95%CI)	Mean	(95%CI)
Before^†	2.8	(1.6 ; 5.0)	1.6	(0.7 ; 3.6)	3.6	(1.8 ; 7.2)
After^†	5.1	(3.3 ; 8.0)	4.7	(1.9 ; 12.0)	4.7	(3.1 ; 7.1)
Variation¹	2.3	(1.1 ; 3.6)	2.2	(0.4 ; 4.1)	1.6	(-0.3 ; 3.6)
Variation²	2.8	(1.3 ; 4.4)	2.4	(0.5 ; 4.4)	1.6	(-0.4 ; 3.8)
Variation³	3.0	(1.2 ; 4.9)	2.1	(0.3 ; 3.9)	2.5	(0.4 ; 4.8)
Variation⁴	4.9	(2.0 ; 7.9)	3.9	(0.8 ; 7.1)	4.3	(0.8 ; 8.1)
Families that did not grow fruits and/or vegetables before the intervention				(0.8 ; 7.1)	4.3	(0.8 ; 8.1)
Availability*	Did not receive herb or vegetable seeds and seedlings		Received but did not plant the seeds and seedlings		Received and planted the seeds and seedlings
Availability*	Mean	(95%CI)	Mean	(95%CI)	Mean	(95%CI)
Before^†	3.4	(1.6 ; 7.1)^a	3.4	(2.0 ; 5.7)^a	2.6	(1.3 ; 5.3)^a
After^†	4.5	(2.9 ; 7.0)^a	4.8	(3.0 ; 7.7)^a	8.4	(6.9 ; 10.2)^b
Variation¹	1.8	(0.0 ; 3.7)^a	2.3	(1.0 ; 3.6)^a	5.8	(4.4 ; 7.3)^b
Variation²	2.3	(0.1 ; 4.5)^a	2.9	(1.2 ; 4.7)^a	6.0	(4.5 ; 7.5)^b
Variation³	3.3	(0.1 ; 6.7)^a	3.5	(0.7 ; 6.6)^a	6.1	(3.6 ; 8.7)^b
Variation⁴	5.1	(0.5 ; 10.2)^a	5.4	(1.6 ; 9.5)^a	8.0	(4.4 ; 11.9)^b

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