COLLEGE STATION Ah, it’s summer. A perfect time to belly up to some Fragaria ananassa shortcake, hold a Citrullus lanatus seed spitting contest, or have some homemade Prunus persica ice cream.
Clueless? No need for a scientific thesaurus. Ask a child who gardens.
One minute they’re knee deep in dirt. Next thing, they’re up to their genu in soil — and loving every minute.
Kids who participate in gardening programs generally develop a greater interest in science, according to educators responding to a recent study by Texas Cooperative Extension.
“Our mission is to use horticulture to grow good kids,” said Lisa Whittlesey, coordinator for Extension’s Junior Master Gardener program. “We hope they also learn a lot about gardening.”
In the national poll of more than 440 JMG leaders, about 85 percent believed that the program increases a child’s interest in science, Whittlesey said.
That’s good, she said, because schools in the state have increased accountability for academic achievement with the introduction of a new Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test for science.
“The role of the JMG program to ignite a passion for learning can be a significant tool for schools to use to meet these new demands,” Whittlesey said.
JMG is a gardening program that began through Extension’s Texas 4-H program in 1999. It since has spread to all 50 states and Washington, D.C., and the curriculum has been sold to 10 other countries and been translated in Spanish and Korean.
The JMG survey revealed even more than the science interest, Whittlesey noted. Almost 64 percent of the educators said JMG leads to a child being more willing to try new fruits and vegetables. Previous studies with children have found the connection between gardening and science, but this survey found that JMG educators – those responsible for choosing what is taught perceive that increased interest in science can be accomplished through gardening. That means they may be more likely to teach horticulture to students than educators who do not perceive the connection.
Proper nutrition is vital for children because it impacts their growth, development and ability to learn. A child who does not receive proper nutrition will not achieve maximum physical and mental potential, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Food and exercise habits are formed in the first 10-15 years of life, so it is important to introduce positive nutritional messages early, USDA nutritionists note.
Less than half of the nation’s children are consuming the recommended number of servings suggested on the Food Guide Pyramid, and their intakes of discretionary fat and added sugars are much higher than recommended, according to a USDA-Agriculture Research Service study published this year in the Family Economics and Nutrition Review.
The study showed that less than one-fourth of the children ate the recommended number of fruit servings.
Whittlesey believes the JMG program can help change that. The JMG Web site, http://jmgkids.com/ tells how to get a program started, or one can e-mail the National JMG office atprograminfo@jmgkids.org, or phone (979) 845-8565.
The end result is that gardening has a twofold benefit for kids — an increased interested in both science and nutrition. Or, in the words of a Junior Master Gardener, a Malus pumila a day keeps the doctor away.
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