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Community Gardens Participation in Promoting Sustainable Lifestyles in Urban Settings: the JArDinS Study

Completed
Conditions
Sustainable Lifestyles
Interventions
Behavioral: Food diary supply
Behavioral: Actigraph
Behavioral: Questionnaire
Registration Number
NCT03694782
Lead Sponsor
Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement
Brief Summary

The JArDinS study is a quasi-experimental research that aimed at assessing the impact of community garden participation (a natural experiment) in the adoption of more sustainable lifestyles.

Detailed Description

The JArDinS study is part of the SURFOOD-Foodscapes project evaluating the relationships between urban foodscape and food styles in Montpellier Metropole (France).

JArDinS consists of a pretest-posttest quasi-experimental research and includes an experimental group of new gardeners starting gardening in a community garden in Montpellier and a control group comprising participants from a survey on food behaviors undertaken as part of SURFOOD-Foodscapes project. Participants will be surveyed at enrollment and 12 months later.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
150
Inclusion Criteria
  • starting gardening in a community garden (for experimental group)
  • no experience in community gardening (for control group)
  • willingness to be involved in the study through one year
  • age above 18 years
  • ability to read in French and live in the city of Montpellier.
Exclusion Criteria
  • past experience of at least one household member in community gardening
  • never doing grocery shopping for home

Study & Design

Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Study Design
Not specified
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Experimental groupQuestionnaireGardeners starting gardening in a community garden in Montpellier (France)
Control GroupActigraphVolunteers living in the same neighborhoods but with no experience in community gardening.
Control GroupQuestionnaireVolunteers living in the same neighborhoods but with no experience in community gardening.
Control GroupFood diary supplyVolunteers living in the same neighborhoods but with no experience in community gardening.
Experimental groupFood diary supplyGardeners starting gardening in a community garden in Montpellier (France)
Experimental groupActigraphGardeners starting gardening in a community garden in Montpellier (France)
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Change in environmental impact of household's food trip (in g CO2eq)at baseline and exactly 12 month later

For each food trip, the distance traveled specifically for food purchase will be multiplied by energy source consumption of the transportation used, and by the corresponding GHGE factor of source consumption. GHGE related to food trip will be calculated as the sum of all food trips during the period of data collection.

Change in sensibility to food wasteat baseline and exactly 12 month later

Assessed by the Sensibility to food waste scale, a 8-item scale rated on a 7-point Likert-type, that measure in which extent participants attach importance to waste and are emotionally affected by it. Total score range from 7-56, a higher total scores denote greater sensibility to food waste.

Change in household food supply expenditureat baseline and exactly 12 month later

Monthly household food expenditure and the contribution of each food group and subgroup to total food expenditure were estimated using food expenses data collected in the food supply diary.

Change in social isolationat baseline and exactly 12 month later

Assessed by the UCLA Loneliness Scale. UCLA-3 is a 20-item scale (11 positive and 9 negative) rated on a 4-point Likert-type. Total score range from 20-70, with higher scores greater feelings of loneliness.

Change in healthiness of household food supplyat baseline and exactly 12 month later

The nutritional quality of household food supply was estimated using two indicators of nutritional quality : the mean adequacy ratio (MAR) and the mean excess ratio (MER)

Change in physical activity energyat baseline and exactly 12 month later

Physical activity energy expenditure were estimated directly from raw triaxial accelerometry data using a model which combines an automatic activity-recognition algorithm with an activity-specific count-based model

Change in environmental impact of household's food supplyat baseline and exactly 12 month later

Greenhouse gas emissions (in g CO2eq), atmospheric acidification (g SO2eq) and marine eutrophication (in g Neq) related to household's food supply were computed using estimates from the French 'SUStable' table.

Change in connection with natureat baseline and exactly 12 month later

Affective, cognitive, and experiential aspects of individuals' connection to nature was assessed by the Nature Relatedness Scale (NRS). NRS is a 21-item scale rated on a 5-point Likert-type. Total score range from 5-105, a higher total scores denote greater nature connectedness.

Change in mental well-beingat baseline and exactly 12 month later

Assessed by the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale. WEMWBS is a 14-item scale rated on a 5-point Likert-type, in which all items are worded positively and address aspects of positive mental health. Total score range from 14-70, with higher scores indicating a higher level of mental well-being.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Gardening experience prior to the projectat baseline

Participants were asked about their experiences and perceived competence in gardening.

Age (in year) of each member of the householdat baseline

Participants were asked to report the age of each member each adult of the household.

Education level of each adult of the householdat baseline

Participants were asked to report the higest education level achieved by each adult of the household.

Gender of each member of the householdat baseline

Participants were asked to report the gender of each adult of the household

Household incomeat baseline

Participants indicated their net income bracket of the household (by month).

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

INRA

🇫🇷

Montpellier, France

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