# A Positive Deviance Inquiry into the Protective Health Behaviors of Children during Summer

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA AT COLUMBIA · 2021 · $39,575

## Abstract

Abstract
An emerging body of evidence suggests children gain more weight during the 3-month summer vacation than
they do during the entire 9-month school year. This accelerated weight gain during summer is
disproportionately higher among children from low-income families compared to their higher-income peers.
Studies of children who respond positively to summer (i.e., maintain or lose weight, increase activity/sleep,
reduce screen time, improve diet) can provide insight into what enables some children to overcome barriers
linked to accelerated weight-gain during summer, while others do not. To address this important question, I will
employ the Positive Deviance framework and apply it to childhood obesity.The Positive Deviance (PD)
framework proposes that within any population, there are those who manage to engage in healthy behaviors
despite experiencing similar obstacles as those who do not. The PD framework has been used to solve
complex public health issues such as malnutrition, infant mortality, and infectious diseases. Positive deviance
identifies individuals quantitatively and utilizes quantitative analyses and qualitative interviewing techniques to
discover what innovative strategies PDs use to overcome barriers to improving their health. The objectives of
this F31 Diversity Fellowship application are to identify neighborhood, home, parent, and child-level factors,
using the PD framework, that are associated with healthful changes in children’s obesogenic behaviors –
Moderate-Vigorous Physical Activity, Sedentary time, Sleep, and Diet - and changes in weight during summer.
To accomplish these objectives, this study will leverage data from a large observational cohort (R01-
DK116665, PI Beets) comparing changes in weight & obesogenic behaviors of low and high-income
elementary-age children during school and summer vacation. The proposed study will purposively sample,
from the existing cohort of 673 children, individuals who display favorable outcomes during summer. I will
define PDs as children who exhibit favorable changes in BMI Z-score (zBMI) from school to summer.
Quantitative analyses will assess associations between neighborhood, home, parent, and child-level factors
with changes in zBMI and health behaviors. Qualitative methods, grounded in the PD Framework, will identify
strategies utilized by the parents of PD children that are not present among parents of children who exhibit the
least healthy changes in weight and obesogenic behaviors. The results of this F31 will be used to support the
development of novel interventions to be tested in a F32 award application upon completion of the doctoral
program.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10133225
- **Project number:** 1F31HD102045-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA AT COLUMBIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Roddrick Dugger
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $39,575
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-03-07 → 2023-03-06

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10133225

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10133225, A Positive Deviance Inquiry into the Protective Health Behaviors of Children during Summer (1F31HD102045-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10133225. Licensed CC0.

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