# Prevention of Unhealthy Weight Gain in Children from Economically Disadvantaged Circumstances: Reducing Obesogenic Behaviors and Increasing Self-Regulation

> **NIH NIH P20** · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA AT COLUMBIA · 2020 · $203,181

## Abstract

For children (5-10 years) from low-income households, summer represents a “window of vulnerability” in which
weight gain and fitness loss occur at an accelerated rate compared to the school year. We hypothesize the
cause of accelerated weight gain and loss of fitness during summer is that children engage in greater amounts of
obesogenic behaviors (i.e., diet, sleep, physical activity, sedentary behaviors) during summer that accelerate
unhealthy weight gain and fitness loss. Evidence suggests that components within structured days (e.g., school
days) have a positive influence on these behaviors. There is also evidence that the routines embedded within
structured days are related to children’s self-regulation. During the summer, day camps (e.g., 7AM-5PM, 8-10wks)
are a setting that can provide children a structured, healthy environment. However, the vast majority of children
from low-income households have limited access to these programs during the summer due to cost. The research
gaps addressed in this application are 1) the lack of strategies to mitigate unhealthy weight gain and fitness loss
during the summer, 2) and obesogenic behaviors’ moderation (or meditation) of children’s weight gain and fitness
loss during summer. This study will address these gaps with a rigorous research design that will follow children over
two summers and one school year. Children will be randomized to two arms: children who do not attend a
structured summer camp, and children who receive a voucher to attend a camp for 8 weeks. We hypothesize that
children receiving the voucher will experience less weight gain and fitness loss than children not receiving the
voucher. To test this hypothesis the following specific aims will be accomplished: Aim 1 (Primary): Compare
changes in BMI z-scores and fitness among children from low-income households attending a structured
summer day camp and those not attending a structured summer day camp. Aim 2 (Secondary): Compare
changes in obesogenic behaviors among children attending a structured summer day camp and those not
attending a structured summer day camp. Aim 3 (Exploratory): Explore changes in self-regulation and the
moderating effect of these changes on primary and secondary outcomes among children attending and not
attending a structured summer day camp.This study will provide valuable data to inform future interventions tested
in a large-scale randomized trial. This project is significant because it targets the most vulnerable population of
children (i.e., children from low-income households) during the time when they are the most vulnerable (i.e.,
summer). This project is innovative because 1) it will provide insight into children’s obesogenic behaviors that
are driving unhealthy weight change and fitness loss during the summer and 2) it will provide preliminary data
related to the ability of structured days to mitigate unhealthy weight gain and fitness loss during the summer.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9852058
- **Project number:** 1P20GM130420-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA AT COLUMBIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Robert G Weaver
- **Activity code:** P20 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $203,181
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** — → —

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9852058

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9852058, Prevention of Unhealthy Weight Gain in Children from Economically Disadvantaged Circumstances: Reducing Obesogenic Behaviors and Increasing Self-Regulation (1P20GM130420-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9852058. Licensed CC0.

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