Gardening and age-related weight gain: Results from a cross-sectional survey of Denver residents

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Prev Med Rep
• Personal Author:
  Litt, Jill S. ; Lambert, Jeffrey Richard ; Glueck, Deborah H.
• Description:
  This study examined whether gardening modifies the association between age and body mass index (BMI). We used data from the Neighborhood Environments and Health Survey, which was conducted in Denver (N = 469) between 2006 and 2007. We fit two general linear mixed models. The base model had BMI in kg/m2 as the outcome, and age, an indicator variable for non-gardening status and the age-by-non-gardening status interaction as predictors. The adjusted model included as covariates the potential confounders of education, ethnicity and self-reported health. We assessed self-selection bias and confounding. BMI was 27.18 kg/m2 for non-gardeners, 25.62 kg/m2 for home gardeners, and 24.17 kg/m2 for community gardeners. In the base model, a statistically significant association was observed between age and BMI for non-gardeners but not for the combined community and home gardening group (F = 9.27, ndf = 1, ddf = 441, p = 0.0025). In the adjusted model, the association between age and BMI in non-gardeners was not statistically significant (F = 1.72, ndf = 1, ddf = 431, p = 0.1908). Gardeners differed on social and demographic factors when compared to non-gardeners. The results from the base model are consistent with the hypothesis that gardening might offset age-related weight gain. However, the cross-sectional design does not permit differentiation of true causal effects from the possible effects of bias and confounding. As a follow-up study, to remove bias and confounding, we are conducting a randomized clinical trial of community gardening in Denver.
• Subjects:
  Aging Gardening Life Style Weight Gain
• Source:
  Prev Med Rep. 2017; 8:221-225.
• Pubmed ID:
  29159017
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC5683668
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  K01 EH000066/EH/NCEH CDC HHS/United States ; R25 GM111901/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/United States ; UL1 RR025780/RR/NCRR NIH HHS/United States ; UL1 TR001082/TR/NCATS NIH HHS/United States
• Place as Subject:
  Colorado
• Volume:
  8
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:8caa6cc9fb9d14be24ed2a40c2e2c5285f9be7afc5bd5d801cfe6aafde156eb0
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/50146/cdc_50146_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 181.36 KB ]