Could move to a neighborhood built around a work farm is the recipe for better health? A new study by Texas A&M University puts this question in the test, identifying how residents of a new “parcels” community change their diet, exercise and overall health after moving.
The perspective study, led by Jay Maddock, a professor at the School
At the center of the study is Indigo, a 235 -acre community designed in Fort Bend, where residents will start moving later this month. The neighborhood will have 42 acres dedicated to agriculture, including crops and animal pastures. The designs also highlight the ability to wait, with more than half of the earth dedicated to the green -free green areas.
Maddock, whose research includes issues such as exposure to parks and green spaces benefits mental health at neighborhood level and how hospital rooms designed with natural elements help the recovery process, said the new Indigo development presents a unique opportunity to collect data for both residents and residents.
The developers got almost everything we know about what a healthy community is doing and tried to build it in this community. This is what makes this so exciting – allows us to see how people live before moving in and after movement: Does this really change their behavior? ”
Jay Maddock, Professor, School of Public Health, Texas A&M University
A farm or garden is usually the hub of a farm, which are also designed with public green spaces, water features, hiking trails and community centers. With about 100 of these planned communities or in the world’s development, Maddock said agricultural lawsuits are still a relatively new concept and there is almost no scientific literature that explores the benefits of their health.
The study will hire 350 participants in total, consisting of 175 residents of Indigo and 175 residents of a Comparison Community in Fort Bend. It is about 20 miles away from Indigo, the comparison neighborhood has similar demographics, but it is a traditional planned community without the characteristics of an agriculture. Participants will complete a comprehensive lifestyle survey before moving forward to create a basic line and will be considered again in three and six months.
“The biggest thing we are considering is changes in physical activity and nutrition,” Maddock said. “In terms of biomarkers, we look at blood pressure, cholesterol and other markers of metabolic health.”
A mobile health assessment clinic will be transferred to both neighborhoods so that researchers can measure height, weight, blood pressure and other data points. Maddock said he would use a “Veggie Meter” device – which does not penetrate a person’s finger scan – to assess the consumption of fruits and vegetables based on carotenoid levels on the skin and the physical activity will be monitored by accelerometers.
Maddock said the Indigo participants who spoke that they were told that they had chosen to buy homes in the neighborhood for the opportunity to live close to a working farm. Social connection is another result that will be monitored. “It seems that people will be more connected to each other and linked to the farm and where their food is coming, but so far everything has been anecdotal elements,” he said. “This is a first exploration of this kind.”
Maddock said he sees the promise of atrocities as a model for urban development.
“Forty percent of Americans never knew a farmer before in their lives. I think we have been completely distributed from the point where our food comes from,” Maddock said. “I think agriculture provides a model for a rapidly growing urban community to bring the farmer back to the people and know where your source of food is and how we can really create neighborhoods that improve people’s health.”
The study will also include dining groups with residents to better understand what characteristics of the community they make and do not use, which could help develop future parcels.
“How complete do people get into agriculture?” Said Maddock. “Do they eat the fruits and vegetables that come out of there? Can we get more urban animals there, since many communities ban chickens?
The 13 -month study is organized by Lexi Macmillan Uribe from Agrilife Research and Renee Umstattd Meyer from Baylor University along with a large interdisciplinary team. The study is supported by the Agrilife Institute of Texas A&M Agrilife Institute to promote health through agriculture (IHA) and the US Department of Agriculture, the ARS Agreement Number of the Agricultural Research Service, 58-3091-1-018.
