Effects of Childcare Hands-On Gardening on Preschoolers' (3-5 Years) Physical Activity in Semi-Arid Climate Zone.

How hands-on gardening impacts behaviors including healthy eating and physical activity during early childhood can be of critical importance for preventing the early onset of obesity. This study investigates how participating in hands-on gardening impacts preschoolers' (3-5 years old) physical activity (measured by accelerometers) in childcare centers in the semi-arid climate zone. The research was conducted in eight licensed childcare centers located in West Texas with 149 children (n = 149). Four childcare centers in the experimental group received hands-on garden interventions; the other four in the control group did not. In both experimental (intervention) and control (non-intervention) centers, children wore Actigraph GT3X+ accelerometers continuously for 5 days before and for 5 days after intervention (a total of 10 days). Results show that the duration of sedentary behavior of children in the experimental (intervention) group significantly decreased compared to children in the control (non-intervention) group. The finding suggests that the positive effects of childcare hands-on gardening on physical activity extend to semi-arid climate zones where gardening is challenging due to high temperatures and lack of annual rainfall. The research emphasizes the critical need to incorporate hands-on gardening in childcare centers as an obesity prevention strategy nationally in the US and beyond.

Hope and pediatric health.

Snyder's Hope Theory and its application in pediatric health have been receiving increased attention recently. Within the last three years, research has primarily focused on adolescents and/or young adults, and pediatric cancer populations. Generally, higher hope scores are associated with positive outcomes in pediatric studies. There has also been increased interest in the role of hope in pediatric health interventions, with some studies indicating that hope is malleable and that changes in hope are associated with changes in health outcomes. Limitations in this research area include (1) a few longitudinal and follow-up studies assessing the stability of changes in hope, (2) the need to determine directionality regarding hope and health outcome relations, and (3) some inconsistencies in the conceptualization of hope.