Experimental Garden – a lever for a sustainable food environment
Overweight and obesity are globally recognised risk factors for chronic conditions such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and various forms of cancer. In Flanders, this problem is also alarming among young people: 13.4% of young people are overweight or obese, and this figure doubles to 23.5% among young people with a lower socio-economic status (SES). This health inequality can be partly explained by unhealthy eating habits, such as low consumption of fruit and vegetables and high intake of sugary drinks and snacks (HBSC, 2023). Adolescence is a critical stage of life in which eating habits are formed that can have a lifelong impact. Yet this target group remains underexposed in nutrition policy and preventive health interventions.
Moreover, young people's eating behaviour is not only determined by individual choices or knowledge, but also by the broader food environment in which they grow up. The availability, accessibility and affordability of healthy food in the neighbourhood and at school play a crucial role. Young people in vulnerable neighbourhoods are particularly sensitive to these environmental influences (Vandevijvere & Smets, 2023). The Hap&Stap project has already demonstrated that there is a clear need for healthier and more accessible food in such neighbourhoods, and that neighbourhood-oriented initiatives such as community gardens can play an important role in this (Flemish Institute for Healthy Living, 2024).
The aim of this preliminary study is to explore, together with children, young people and their parents from the Rabot neighbourhood in Ghent, how the existing Experimental Garden can contribute to a healthier food environment. Through a co-creative process, we want to develop intervention proposals and actions that can take place both inside and outside the garden. These proposals will form the basis for a later project application in which the effect of these interventions on food skills, eating behaviour and health outcomes will be evaluated.
Research question
How can co-creatively developed interventions in and around an experimental garden contribute to:
strengthening food skills among children and young people in socially vulnerable positions,
promoting healthy and sustainable eating behaviour,
and improving the physical and socio-cultural food environment in vulnerable neighbourhoods?
