• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.565-576
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• 2020

Background and objective: The elderly living in homeless living facilities for a long time suffer from various mental health problems. This study aims to determine the psychological, emotional, and social effects of a horticultural therapy program composed of gardening activities, which was designed based on the semantic structures of life for the homeless elderly living in the facilities for a long time. Methods: A total of 12 subjects (6 in the control group and 6 in the experimental group) participated in the study. The horticultural therapy program consisted mainly of gardening activities, and a total of 16 sessions were conducted once a week for 16 weeks, 60-90 minutes per session. The subjects were tested to evaluate their self-esteem, depression, and horticultural activities. The data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test, Wilcoxon rank test, and Friedman test, which were nonparametric tests, conducted at a 95% significance level. Results: First, in the case of self-esteem, a significant difference was found between the groups, 20.00 points (SD = 5.69) in the control group, and 25.50 points (SD = 3.73) in the experimental group (p = .034). Second, in the case of depression, no statistically significant difference was found in the posttest. Finally, in the case of the horticultural activity evaluation, the scores of most variables gradually and significantly increased during the program [Verbal interaction during activity (p = .006), Self-concept and identity (p = .006), Need-drive adaptation (p < .001), Interpersonal and social relations (p < .001)]. Conclusion: These results support that the horticultural therapy program could help the elderly improve psychological relaxation, emotional stability, and social relationships. In order to generalize the results, it is suggested to increase the number of subjects or conduct additional repetitive experiments in further research.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.123-128
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• 2014

This study investigated the exercise intensity and energy expenditure involved in two gardening activities (planting transplants and sowing seeds in a garden plot) and four common physical activities (running, skipping rope, walking, and throwing a ball) in children. Eighteen children aged 11 to 13 years (mean age, $12.3{\pm}0.7$ years) participated in this study. The children made two visits to a high tunnel in Cheongju, Chungbuk, South Korea and performed randomly selected activities. Each activity was performed for 10 min, with a 5-min rest period between activities. The children wore a Cosmed $K4b^2$ (Cosmed $K4b^2$; Cosmed, Rome, Italy), which is a portable calorimetric monitoring system, to measure indicators of metabolic cost such as oxygen uptake and energy expenditure. The children's heart rates during the activities were measured by radiotelemetry (Polar T 31; FitMed, Kempele, Finland). We found that the two gardening and four physical activities performed by the 11-13 years old children in this study were moderate-to high-intensity physical activities [i.e.,$5.4{\pm}0.7$ to $9.1{\pm}1.4$ metabolic equivalents (METs)]. Running ($9.1{\pm}1.4$ METs) and skipping rope ($8.8{\pm}1.1$ METs) were high-intensity physical activities, whereas walking ($6.1{\pm}0.9$ METs), planting transplants ($5.8{\pm}1.1$ METs), throwing a ball ($5.6{\pm}1.1$ METs), and sowing seeds ($5.4{\pm}0.7$ METs) were moderate intensity physical activities. Running and skipping rope were significantly more intense than the other activities (P < 0.0001). The gardening tasks such as planting transplants and sowing seeds in a garden plot showed similar exercise intensities and energy costs as walking and throwing a ball. This study indicates that gardening can be used as a physical activity intervention to provide health benefits similar to more common physical activities such as walking and running.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.27 no.9
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• pp.789-796
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• 2018

This study aims to measure the emotional effects of pet plants, which have become popular in recent years. A questionnaire regarding perceptions of these indoor plants was administered to 78 university students. Thirty of these students took care of two species of pet plants for 90 days, and the emotional effects of this exercise were determined based on the type of words used in their daily records. The questionnaire results showed that the general recognition of emotional effects was low, though awareness of the term "pet plants" was high. However, after gardening for 90 days, participants began to consider their pet plants friends or family members, noting feelings of affection and sympathy in their daily writeups. These participants also experienced positive changes in their emotional well-being, including feelings of joy, hope, relaxation, confidence, and accomplishment. This study argues that pet plants can have positive effects on emotional stability and suggests that their adoption would be beneficial to humanity at large.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.15-29
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of the exhibition displays and events of the Agro-healing Experience Hall in the Agricultural Technology Exhibition 2018 on satisfaction and revisit intention of visitors. A survey was conducted on visitors of the Agro-healing Experience Hall and the responses of 274 visitors excluding 26 cases with inappropriate responses were analyzed. For psychological measurement, the Perceived Restorativeness Scale (PRS), Profile of Mood States (POMS), level of plant gardening experience, satisfaction and loyalty were measured. There was a significant difference among age groups in all four factors of the PRS (repose, fascination, coherence, and legibility). In the case of education level, there was a significant difference in the three factors (repose, fascination, and legibility). In addition, average monthly income showed a significant difference among groups in the two factors (fascination and coherence). As a result of analyzing the mood states of visitors for the exhibition events of the Agro-healing Experience Hall, there was a significant difference among age groups only in the case of vigor (p < .05). As a result of analyzing the correlation between the level of plant gardening activities (3 factors) and PRS (4 factors) in the exhibition events of the Agro-healing Experience Hall, plant preference tendency and plant-related event showed a high positive correlation of 0.5 or more with repose of the PRS factors. A multiple regression analysis was conducted to investigate the effects of the level of plant gardening activities, PRS and POMS on the satisfaction and loyalty of visitors. As a result, it was found that in terms of relative explanatory power over independent variables affecting satisfaction and revisit intention, fascination had the greatest effect, followed by vigor, fatigue, and occupation (company employee). The results of this study suggest that exhibition events of the Agro-healing Experience Hall affect repose, fascination or vigor of visitors, and thus can be used positively to increase satisfaction and revisit intention of visitors.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.119-135
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• 2021

Background and objective: This study was conducted to identify the components of kindergartener horticultural education by deriving objective components of horticultural education using the Delphi survey method, and then to provide basic data that can be used when creating horticultural programs in the regular curriculum. Methods: A total of 32 experts including professors of early childhood education, kindergarten directors, horticultural therapy professors, and horticultural therapists were selected as the Delphi panel. Of the 32 selected, only 29 answered all three rounds of the surveys. For the first round of the survey, an open-ended questionnaire, was used, and in the second and third rounds closed-ended questionnaires were used. Results: Results indicated that under the category of the goals of horticultural education, there were 7 items related to the current problems of horticultural education, 16 items related to the need for horticultural education in the smart age, 18 items related to the direction of horticultural education, and 5 items related to the areas most suitable for horticulture education for young children in the Nuri Curriculum. Results in the category of the implementation of horticultural education indicated that 2 items related to horticultural education hours, 3 items related to the venue for horticultural education, 2 items related to the activity types applicable to the Nuri Curriculum, and 4 items related to the objects of horticultural activities were derived. As the current problems of horticultural education, the following items were identified: event-oriented activity (M = 4.24) and lack of kindergarten teachers' opportunities for systematic gardening education (M = 4.21). The results related to the necessity of horticultural education indicated the following items: education on respect for life through caring (M = 4.59), emotional intelligence and stability (M = 4.55), directly experience of the growth process of plants (M = 4.55), and development of the five senses (M = 4.55). Finally, within the direction of horticultural education: nurturing the desire to live with nature (M = 4.50), and learning about life (M = 4.44) was identified, which had higher averages. Within the areas of the Nuri Curriculum, which is most consistent with horticultural education, nature exploration (M = 4.69) and the integration of all areas (M = 4.59) were derived as priorities. Also, regarding the implementation of horticultural education, the following items were derived as the priority from the expert group: 30-40 minutes (M = 4.14) and 40-50 minutes (M = 4.14) for class periods, outdoor garden in a kindergarten(M = 4.66) for the venue of gardening education, outside play (M = 4.59) for the activity type, and vegetable crops (M = 4.55) for the objects of gardening activities. Conclusion: It is significant that the goal and implementation of kindergartner horticultural education were objectively derived through collecting opinions of expert panels. Based on the results of this study, a horticultural education program for kindergarten teachers should be implemented.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.267-276
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• 2020

Background and objective: Agro-healing is crucial with urban farming in the domestic. It is beyond the conventional agriculture. This study was carried out to assess the 2010s researches on domestic agro-healing and predict the future direction of agro-healing development. Methods: Among the articles published from 2010 to 2018, we collected some articles by searching keywords including agro-healing, garden activity, gardening, horticultural activity, horticultural program, horticultural therapy, plant effect, plant environment, plant growing program, plant impact, social gardening, urban agriculture and vegetable garden activity, selected 83 articles that were evaluated in advance, and analyzed by frequency analysis, t-test, and one-way ANOVA with SPSS 20.0. Results: Agro-healing journal articles were published the most in 2010, and have declined since then. In the classification according to the academic society, most of the journal articles were published by the Society for People, Plants, and Environment. The main targets of domestic agro-healing related to activities and programs were preschoolers, children and adolescents, accounting for 52.4% of the total. By the characteristics of the subjects, agro-healing programs and studies were conducted with special participants who needed special care compared to the general participants. The dependent variables were classified into six areas according to their attributes and the share of psychological and emotional areas was highest (42.6%) among them. In terms of the composition of the program, the share of those with 9-12 sessions was highest (36.7%) and the share of those with more than 20 participants was also highest (39.8%). Conclusion: It is recommended to operate agro-healing programs or industries focusing on the socially disadvantaged including those who have special needs or the underprivileged, but in order to create income for farms and expand the demand for agro-healing, it will be necessary to spread the perception that anyone without any physical or emotional issue can be the targets of and experience agro-healing. To meet the different needs of targets of agro-healing, it will be necessary to conduct objective and practical studies on broader areas and in the process the healing functions of agriculture and the strength of agro-healing needs to be further highlighted.

• Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.18-25
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• 2004

The purpose of this article is twofold: 1) to provide nutrition professionals with the history of how the concept of sustainable diets was introduced to the nutrition profession and 2) to describe how different sustainable agricultural practices offer potential for improving human nutrition and health. The idea of connecting sustainable agriculture With the promotion of human nutrition and health is not new. It is a concept that was introduced to the nutrition profession more than 20 years ago. To foster healthful, sustainable diets, consumers need to choose more whole foods. From the standpoint of nutrition and health, whole foods are naturally higher in fiber and lower in fat, sodium, sugar and additives compared to highly processed foods. From the standpoint of agricultural sustainability, whole foods bypass the high-energy costs of food processing and transportation. Organic farming systems offer potential benefits to human health through reducing farmers' exposure to pesticides and by increasing the total phenolic content in selected food crops. Participation in farmers' market nutrition programs and gardening has been associated with increased fruit and vegetable intake. Gardening may also be a way to increase access to fresh produce in low-income populations that do not have access to nutritious food outlets and to increase physical activity. Further research is needed to assess the human nutrition and health benefits of other types of sustainable agriculture strategies and to investigate the links among different agricultural practices with nutrient and total phenolic content in a wider variety of important food crops.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Floral Art and Design
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• no.37
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• pp.33-48
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• 2017

This study examines garden activity and garden plant preferences for development of the garden activity program using community garden aimed for communication and integration for multicultural age. As a result, for members of multicultural society had high portion of floral arrangement and crafts, growing plants in both indoors and outdoors garden for their garden activities, and using plants for cooking, growing plants in both indoors and outdoors garden was of higher portion for native korean. In the garden plant preferences, members of multicultural society liked ornamental plants the best, due to the environmental correspondence between the plant's place of origin and their home country, while native koreans tend to prefer vegetables, reflecting the recent interest in pro-environment crops and rise in demand of urban farming, veranda gardening and weekend farming. In this study, the garden activity program for communication and integration categorized the value of garden activity into three categories; the value of respect for life, the value of consideration through caring, the value of plant ethics, based on the above preference results. The value of respect for life can be achieved by understanding the meaning of life, experiencing the will to live, and understanding the characteristics of plants and me. The value of consideration of caring comes from waiting and nurturing for living things that are different from me and adapting to the environment as a living The value of plant ethics can give us the insights for human relationships, by understanding and experiencing the natural ecosystem and plant co-existing in it. The eight-session garden activity program also went through validity verification process by experts on gardening and multiculture, and the effectiveness of the program was proved.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.55-65
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• 2020

This study conducted a survey on 163 parents in Korea to investigate their interest in plants, experience in growing plants, and perception on horticultural activity programs (HAP) for their children. Most children (80.4%) of the respondents had experience participating in HAPs, and most of their experience occurred during school hours in preschool educational institutions more than once a month (60.3%). The more interest in plants and experience in growing plants the parents had, the more experience the preschoolers had in participating in HAPs, which implies that the experience of the parents with plants affected their children's participation in HAPs. Parents' most preferred location of HAPs was preschool educational institutions, and most preferred time was school hours with a frequency of more than once a week (57.1%), which is more frequent than the current status of HAPs in preschool educational institutions. Parents also responded that the most preferred instructors of HAP has are those with a professional background in horticulture. Among the activities in HAP for preschoolers, parents most preferred cooking (M = 4.05) activity, and they did not dislike any of the activities. They responded that the facilities for HAP needed to be improved to make HAP more active in preschool educational institutions. Overall, based on the current results, developing suitable HAPs and facilities for preschoolers, fostering professional HAP instructors, and educating parents about horticulture would enhance HAPs in preschool educational institutions, thus providing preschoolers with many benefits of HAPs.

• Hwankyungkyoyuk
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.27-38
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• 2007

The purpose of this study was to investigate how the future users of a children's garden felt about the designing and operation of the children's garden, which is to be constructed within Korea National Arboretum. For this study, a total of 1,855 elementary school children were selected and then classified by sex and grade. The survey had been carried out to examine the following five items: necessity and advantages of the garden, plants suitable for it, artificial facilities required for it, its space structure, programs necessary for educational activities, and operation programs. The results are as follows: 1. Necessity and advantages of the children's garden: Some 87.7% of respondents said the garden is needed, it would serve for environmental preservation, it would function as a resting place, and it would have educational effect; 2. Plants suitable for it: Uncommon plants which have flowers of several colors; 3. Artificial facilities required for it: Places for experience and rest; 4. Programs necessary for educational activities: maze experiencing and gardening; and 5. Operation programs: Some 86.3% of the respondents said they are needed. They thought educational programs providing the activities of experiencing would be preferable. This study provides basic materials for the planning and designing of the children's garden. When constructing the garden, we should have enough prior discussion for the matters listed above. Furthermore, it is needed to develop several educational programs for efficient operation and management.