Agriculture Innovation Changing Health and Nutrition Behaviors

Mary-Lynne Lasco of INMED Partnerships for Children in the U.S. will evaluate whether on-site sustainable food production and associated education in schools improves child health when combined with semi-annual deworming treatments and a new school feeding program in Peru. Many Peruvian children are malnourished, and soil-transmitted helminth infections are endemic and a significant cause of mortality. They will study two primary schools in Peru's Ucayali region, one of which will receive an aquaponic system, comprising fish farming and growing plants without soil, to produce healthy food and to educate children, teachers and parents on the value of eating healthily. They will analyze the effect of aquaponics and integrated education on nutrition and helminth infection rates at the schools, as well as on the attitudes of parents and the community.