Kafeero, Hussein MukasaKavuma, DavidNantume, Lillian WampandeMbabazi, Scovia2023-04-282023-04-282019Kafeero, H. M., Kavuma, D., Nantume, L. W., & Mbabazi, S. (2019). School Gardening Activities have Profound Potential in Influencing the Knowledge, Attitude, Self-efficacy and Frequency of Fruit and Vegetable Intake by Late Adolescents.https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.2.13719/v1https://nru.uncst.go.ug/handle/123456789/8570The dietary intake of fruits and vegetables by adolescents is influenced by self-efficacy,attitude and knowledge.This study was designed to understand the role of school gardens in influencingthe frequency, attitudes, knowledge and self-efficacy of late in-school adolescents on their dietary intakeof fruits and vegetables.Methods The study followed a cross-sectional study design employing quantitative research methods. The target population comprised of late adolescents 18-25 years attending the two-selected secondary school; one with gardening activities and another not. Selfadministered structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Quantitative data was analyzed by t-test , Mann Whitney U test, Pearson Rank Correlation and odds ratio.Results Generally, there were low fruit (8 & 9) and vegetable (6 & 7) servings per week among the unexposed and the exposed groups respectively as compared to the USDA recommendation (14 and 11) servings per week for fruits and vegetables respectively. However, students exposed to gardening had slightly higher scores of fruits and vegetable frequency as compared to those not exposed (OR=1.0370). Students believed they consumed more fruits than vegetables with the exposed group consuming more fruits (p<0.0001) and vegetables (p<0.0001) than the control group. The students knew more nutritional value for fruit intake than for vegetable intake with the exposed group having higher knowledge scores than the control (OR=1.32). The students in the exposed group were more confident in consuming fruits and vegetables rather than a snack (p=0.008), ice cream (p=0.004), three times a day (p<0.0001) compared to the control group. Overall, there was low fruit and vegetable intake by the study subjects. However, fruits were consumed more than the vegetables with the exposed group posting slightly higher weekly intake of fruits and vegetables than the control group. The students knew the nutritional value of fruits and vegetables attaching more importance on the fruits than vegetables with exposed group having better knowledge than the control. Although students in both groups were confident in consuming fruits and vegetables, the exposed group was more confident than the unexposed.enLate AdolescentsFruit and Vegetable IntakeSchool Gardening ActivitiesArticle