Growing health and quality of life: benefits of urban organic community gardens

Objectives: To characterize the horticulturists of an urban garden in terms of their current state of health and health behaviors (at gardening beginning) and to evaluate the effect of horticulture practice on health behaviors and quality of life (after a six month gardening stretch). Introduction: The way in which cities have grown, with heavy air and noise pollution, reduced green spaces, a long distance and out of season food based system and limited sunshine access has led to multiple public health challenges. This in turn has prompted the emergence of various local and state policies aimed at improving the health and quality of life of urbanites. Method: Interviews using structured questionnaires were conducted twice with 115 city dwellers: when they got started in a vegetable garden and about 6 months later. Results:Participants were mainly female (57.8%), professionally active (48.0%) and with a mean age of 53 years. This research showed significant behavioral changes among its users, including positive outcomes in anthropometric parameters, physical activity, smoking habits, eating habits, health status and overall quality of life.Conclusion: Despite a short follow-up period, it could be shown that gardening did influence health and quality of life behaviors.