Abstract:

Pedagogical gardens represent an innovative and effective approach to enriching the teaching and learning process in municipal schools of Campos dos Goytacazes, located in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Additionally, pedagogical gardens have the potential to positively influence students' eating habits, raising awareness of the importance of a balanced and healthy diet. This study investigated the implementation of pedagogical gardens in an interdisciplinary manner, promoting awareness of food security and the importance of a balanced diet among children in municipal schools, aiming at holistic development and the formation of healthy eating habits.

The stages developed in this study were:
a) Conducting playful and dynamic activities to identify children's prior knowledge about food, eating habits, and food security;
b) Explanations about the importance of having access to safe, nutritious, and sufficient food;
c) Active participation of children in the development of a balanced school menu, encouraging the choice of nutritious and varied foods;
d) Integrating the theme of healthy eating into subjects such as science, mathematics, and Portuguese, through projects that address the origin of foods, reading nutritional labels, and performing calculations related to nutrition.

The results indicated that the introduction of pedagogical gardens brings various benefits for teachers and for the approaches carried out throughout the disciplines of Science, Biology, Mathematics, Geography, Physics, Environmental Education, Socioemotional Education, Food, and Nutrition; always in line with an evaluative environmental education oriented towards aspects of transversality, participation, and collective responsibility. Significant impacts were observed in students' awareness of the origin of foods and the need for healthy and nutritious choices. Students showed greater interest in incorporating fruits, vegetables, and balanced foods into their daily meals. The school garden contributed to the development of the school community, as the harvested vegetables provide a healthy diet rich in nutrients essential for human health.

Keywords:

Healthy eating, playful activities, eating habits.