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Evaluating The Impact Of A High School Garden In El Paso, Texas For Fruit And Vegetable Intake Using A Valid Biomarker, Patrick Vaughn Hopkins

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Background: School gardens are an educational tool used to increase children's exposure to, and intake of, fruits and vegetables (F/V). Diets rich in F/V reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, some cancers, and type 2 diabetes, and can aid in weight management as a strategy to reduce obesity prevalence. Objective data of the impact of school gardens on F/V intake are lacking, as most studies have relied on dietary self-reporting to validate F/V intake. Self-reporting of dietary intake is inherently an unreliable method for assessing F/V intake. Carotenoids, a family of phytochemicals, are a reliable biomarker of dietary intake …