Cultivating his vegetable garden: good health and morale

 

Older people who grow a vegetable garden eat more vegetables and have higher morale than those who buy at the grocery store.

U.S. researchers have come to this conclusion by comparing a first study in monthly consumption of fruits and vegetables in 261 men and women aged 50 and over, based on an online questionnaire.
Of these, 158 participants kept a vegetable garden. These should specify the number of hours spent each week in their garden and the reasons which lead to garden.
The results show that, in general, people who make a garden are more likely to eat vegetables than those who do not gardeners. Interestingly, this link has not been established with regard to fruit consumption. No significant differences were obtained by sex.

How many fruits and vegetables per day? According to the latest data from Statistics Canada, just over 50% of women aged 55 to 64 years and 53% aged 65 and over reported consuming at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day. Among men, this proportion is 34% and 40% for these two age groups respectively. Canada's Food Guide recommends a consumption of 7 servings of fruits and vegetables per day for 51 years and older.

Having little experience in gardening or, conversely, to practice this activity for many years, as the number of hours spent in a garden, do not influence the consumption of vegetables.
The very nature of the study, however, does not establish a causal relationship. In other words, researchers can not say if seniors choose gardening as a hobby because they love vegetables or gardening is having a positive influence on their food.
For the authors of this study, these results nevertheless suggest that gardening can be an interesting intervention program to bring seniors to eat more vegetables.

Effects on welfare

Holding a garden is not only beneficial effects on health. A second study conducted by the same research group, from the same sample, shows that gardening also has beneficial effects on the welfare of the gardeners.
Proponents of gardens attributed to higher grades - therefore more positive - on a rating scale of life satisfaction than non-gardeners. They said to find life "less monotonous and boring" and feeling "not so old and tired."
According to researchers, the garden would provide a sense of duty, control and accomplishment. They see in this hobby a way to get seniors to become more active, adopt healthier lifestyles and a better quality of life.