SBIR-STTR Award

Poor dietary quality and low fruit and vegetable (FV) intake in particular is an established risk factor for many chronic diseases; current consumption among children is alarmingly inadequate. Engaging children through school and afterschool settings is a viable strategy to make positive changes but for transformational and sustainable impact messaging must also reach families teachers retail environments and beyond. Grady's Garden includes three core components: healthy food products animated cartoon episodes that chronicle the lives of diverse children who create a garden in their urban neighborhood and episode-tailored Experiential Learning Extensions (ELEs) that include hands-on activities such as recipes tastings worksheets and physical activity. Two episodes with ELEs have been pilot-tested demonstrating promising results. The long-term goal of the Grady's Garden Project is to translate these culturally relevant 'edutainment' approaches into digital delivery format [web and mobile application ('app')platforms] to facilitate widespread (national/global) adoption that will ultimately improve children's FV intake and diet quality; physical activity behaviors; and social-emotional wellness. In this project we will: 1) operationalize existing Grady's Garden content into digital platforms for four user groups: caregivers/parents teachers staff and children and conduct initial user testing; 2) produce two additional Grady's Garden episodes with ELEs that will be built into the digital platform; 3) field-test the four curriculum modules in school and afterschool settings; and4) analyze and apply user data and feedback to inform modifications including push notifications to optimize user engagement. Phase I aims to demonstrate technical feasibility of these platforms and tools poising the project for a Phase II application to commercialize the program.