NIH Awards 3.8 Million Dollars to Evaluate Gardening Program for Heart Health: Five-Year Trial to Recruit 264 Adults, Led by Penn State Team
Hershey, Pennsylvania — A multidisciplinary team of researchers from Penn State has secured a five-year, 3.8 million dollar grant from the National Institute of Nursing Research of the National Institutes of Health to evaluate a remote lifestyle intervention designed to mitigate cardiovascular disease risk.
The project, named Growing Healthy Hearts, investigates whether home-based gardening, hands-on cooking education, and structured social support can foster sustained behavioral modifications among adults vulnerable to chronic cardiometabolic conditions.
The team will recruit 264 adult participants who exhibit at least one recognized risk factor for cardiovascular disease; eligibility also includes low fruit and vegetable intake, low physical activity, having a child at home, and an interest in learning to garden. In the initial pilot of the program, enrolled participants had no prior gardening experience.
Supported under National Institute of Nursing Research award number 1R01NR022295-01, the project connects clinical medicine, dietary science, behavioral psychology, and statewide extension services, led by Susan Veldheer, associate professor of family and community medicine and of public health sciences at Penn State College of Medicine, together with co-leader Amy Moore.
Source: Penn State
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：宾夕法尼亚州立大学 Old Main 主楼夏景，本项目由该校团队牵头。维基共享资源 CC BY 2.5。 / Photo: Old Main at Penn State in summer; the trial is led by a Penn State team. Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.5).
