Human and Clinical Nutrition Commons^™

Desert Within A City: Exploring The Relationship Between Food Security, Diet, And Body Mass Index, Jamey Ann Baietto

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Food deserts are areas of decreased access to nutritious and affordable foods. Residing within a defined food desert is thought to decrease consumption of produce, dairy, and whole grains and increase consumption of energy-dense foods as well as body mass index (BMI).

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of the level of food security on consumption of fruits, vegetables, dairy, whole grains, high-sugar foods, high-fat foods, and BMI.

Design: A one-time, self-administered data collection packet was sent to residents of a food desert. The Dietary Screener Questionnaire was utilized to determine the average daily …

Establishing Sustainable Community Garden Interventions With Aid From Health Promotion Organizations, Rachel Joann Buenemann

Theses and Dissertations

Community garden interventions provide policy, system and environmental change at the community level to establish health behaviors, which act in contest to obesity risk factors. Limited research examines factors, which influence the sustainability of community garden interventions. Therefore, in this study, a sample of 10 Midwestern community gardens associated through funding from a health promotion organization in 2013, collected data through the interviewing and surveying of 10 garden administrators and surveying of 12 garden volunteers. The study identified garden benefits perceived by garden administrators and volunteers to include contributions to social justice, continued education, enhanced social cohesion, increased access to …