A garden‐based nutrition intervention in the rural Dominican Republic – impact on vitamin A rich food consumption

Garden‐based nutrition interventions focus on improving food security and food diversity through the creation and augmentation of homestead food production. Objectives This study assesses the impact of a garden‐based nutrition intervention on the consumption of vitamin A rich foods in rural communities of the Dominican Republic. Methods A garden‐based nutrition intervention was implemented by the Fundación Salud y Bienestar (NGO) in partnership with the authors. A validated “Vitamin A Food Frequency” questionnaire was conducted by convenience sampling of households containing a pregnant woman or a child under the age of five years in two control and two intervention communities. Interviews were conducted before the intervention (n=71) and two years after its initiation (n=48). Results Pre‐ and post‐intervention analysis revealed an increase in average weekly intake of vitamin A‐rich foods in both intervention and control communities (p < 0.001). There was a larger, but not statistically significant, increase in vitamin A food intake in the intervention communities compared to control communities. Conclusions These results indicate that garden‐based nutrition interventions may be a valuable means to enhance Vitamin A food intake in rural settings in developing countries. Support was provided by the Downs Fellowship/Yale University School of Medicine.