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Growing Healthy Hearts: A Pilot Randomized Control Trial to Test Gardening as an Intervention to Improve Health

Growing Healthy Hearts: A Pilot Randomized Control Trial to Test Gardening as an Intervention to Improve Dietary Intake of Fruits and Vegetables and Cardiovascular Disease Risk

Status
Withdrawn
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT04207268
Enrollment
0
Registered
2019-12-20
Start date
2019-12-19
Completion date
2023-10-31
Last updated
2022-06-22

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Cardiovascular Diseases

Keywords

Cardiovascular disease

Brief summary

The purpose of this study is to test the effect of group-based nutrition advice plus gardening (intervention) versus group-based nutrition advice alone on dietary intake of fruits and vegetables, physical activity, and lifetime risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Detailed description

Study participants will be randomly assigned to attend group sessions related to gardening with nutrition advice or nutrition advice alone. The main goal of the intervention will be to encourage participants to increase their intake of fruits and vegetables.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALGardening and Nutrition Advice

Participate in gardening activities, gardening instructions and nutrition advice

Participate in only nutrition advice

Sponsors

Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE (Subject, Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
20 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

1. Are at least 20 years old 2. Have transportation and are willing to travel to the Hershey Community Garden 3. Have any two health conditions or risk factors for CVD. These include, but are not limited to: 1. Any history of cardiovascular disease 2. Any family history of premature cardiovascular disease 3. Any history of stroke 4. High cholesterol 5. High blood pressure 6. Overweight/obesity (BMI \>=25) 7. Diabetes 8. Current or past Tobacco use

Exclusion criteria

1. Currently tends a vegetable garden 2. Moving out of the area in the next 4 months 3. Non-English speaking 4. Pregnant women 5. Participation in a past gardening study 6. Medical conditions or medications that limit ability to freely increase dietary intake of fruits and vegetables (e.g., kidney failure, dialysis) 7. A medical condition that precludes safe pursuit of gardening, i.e., recent heart conditions (e.g., heart failure, stroke, heart attack), recent or pending surgery, severe orthopedic conditions, pending hip/knee replacement, paralysis, dementia, blindness, unstable angina or uncontrolled arrhythmias, or uncontrolled asthma or allergies. 8. History of difficulty obtaining blood samples or fear of needles

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Plasma Carotenoids4 monthsThe primary outcome is between group differences in total plasma carotenoids from baseline to 16 weeks. Plasma carotenoids are a reliable bio-marker of dietary intake of F&V.
Self-reported dietary intake4 monthsInvestigators will also test the between group differences in self-reported servings of fruits and vegetables as assessed by 24-hour recalls.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Cardiovascular disease risk score4 monthsDifferences in Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) risk score based on the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) lifetime CVD risk score calculation (risk score range 0-100%). Higher scores indicate greater risk of a lifetime CVD-related event.
Physical activity4 monthsBetween group differences in minutes of physical activity as measured by the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), (range in minutes, 0-3000+). Higher scores indicate more physical activity.

Countries

United States

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026