The positive deviance approach can be used to create culturally appropriate eating guides compatible with reduced cancer risk

Positive deviance in health and medical research on individual level outcomes - a review of methodology

BACKGROUND

Positive deviance as a methodology is increasing in application yet there is high variability in how this approach is applied in health services research.

METHODS

We conducted a scoping review of the literature for positive deviance applied to health outcomes informed by PRISMA-ScR. We searched the literature from 1945 to 2020, including articles on positive deviance or positive outliers, and restricted to examining individual rather than organizational outcomes. We analyzed the methodology applied including the process of identifying deviants, the use of control groups, and the degree of community engagement.

RESULTS

Our initial search identified 1140 manuscripts; we included 104 papers describing 98 studies, 11 topical and one miscellaneous category. Most studies used objective measures of health or survey-based responses to identify deviants from a sub-set of the population at risk. The use of controls was less common in some topics (hospital infections), whereas controls were universally applied in other topics (malnutrition). The degree of community engagement varied widely.

CONCLUSIONS

Positive deviance would benefit from improvements in reporting and standardized approaches to defining deviance. Studies could be improved through clarified definitions of deviance/risk, explicit descriptions of community engagement, and more consistent use of controls.

Higher nutritional quality at no additional cost among low-income households: insights from food purchases of "positive deviants"

BACKGROUND

It is unknown whether diet quality is correlated with actual food expenditure. According to the positive deviance theory, the study of actual food expenditure by people with limited economic resources could help identify beneficial food-purchasing behavior.

OBJECTIVES

The aims were to investigate the relation between actual expenditure on food and nutritional quality and to identify "positive deviants" among low-income households.

DESIGN

Individuals in deprived social situations (n = 91) were recruited as part of the "Opticourses" nutrition intervention conducted in 2012-2014 in poor districts of Marseille, France. Opticourses participants collected food-purchase receipts for their household over a 1-mo period. "Actual diet costs" and "estimated diet costs" were calculated per 2000 kcal of food purchases by using actual expenditures and a standard food price database of food consumed by a representative sample of French adults, respectively. Mean adequacy ratio (MAR), mean excess ratio (MER), and energy density (ED) were used as nutritional quality indicators. "Positive deviants" were defined as having a higher MAR and a lower MER than the respective median values.

RESULTS

Opticourses participants selected less-expensive food options than the average French population, both within a food group and for a given food item. Higher diet costs were associated with higher nutritional quality (higher MAR, lower ED), regardless of whether costs were calculated from actual expenditure or on the basis of standard food prices. Twenty-one positive deviants were identified. They made significantly healthier purchases than did other participants (MAR: +13%; MER: -90%. ED: -22%) at higher estimated diet costs. Yet, they did not spend more on food (having the same actual diet costs), which showed that they purchased food with a higher nutritional quality for their price.

CONCLUSION

In this low-income population, actual diet cost was positively correlated with nutritional quality, yet the results showed that higher diet quality is not necessarily more costly when foods with higher nutritional quality for their price are selected. The Opticourses intervention was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02383875.

Physically active, low-income African American women: an exploration of activity maintenance in the context of sociodemographic factors associated with inactivity

Increasing physical activity among low-income African American women is an important target for addressing racial and economic disparities in chronic conditions and related risk factors. While barriers to physical activity for women have been examined empirically, successful strategies for navigating those barriers among physically active, low-income women have not been thoroughly explored. Informed by grounded theory, we conducted in-depth individual interviews between 2007-2010 with 14 low-income African American women who were physically active at nationally recommended levels for one year or more. We analyzed the data using thematic analysis techniques. Key themes emerged in three main categories: motivation for maintaining active lifestyle, strategies for maintaining physical activity, and challenges to maintaining physical activity. Important motivations included getting or staying healthy, social connections, and gratification. Two planning strategies emerged: flexibility and freedom. Critical challenges included financial constraints, physical strain and history of sedentary relapse. The motivations, strategies and challenges reported by low-income African American women who successfully maintained an active lifestyle provided important information for developing effective health promotion strategies for their inactive and underactive counterparts. A qualitative, asset-based approach to physical activity research contributes rich data to bridge the gap between epidemiological knowledge and community health improvement.

The concept of "critical nutrient density" in complementary feeding: the demands on the "family foods" for the nutrient adequacy of young Guatemalan children with continued breastfeeding

BACKGROUND

The WHO recommends the introduction of nutritionally adequate, safe, and appropriate complementary foods at 6 mo of age, with continued breastfeeding up to 2 y and beyond. Suggested strategies to support continued breastfeeding often postulate optimal use of customary "family foods" and adequate amounts of indigenous foodstuffs and local foods.

OBJECTIVE

The objective was to determine the nutrient adequacy of the diet of Guatemalan children aged 6-24 mo receiving continued breastfeeding and "family foods" rather than specially formulated "baby foods" as complementary foods.

DESIGN

"Critical nutrient densities" for complementary foods were determined by using specific energy and protein requirements, assuming children to be in the 50th or 15th weight percentile of the 2006 WHO standards. Nutrient requirements for the total diet were determined by using the recommended nutrient intakes. Breast milk was assumed to provide 75% of total energy between 7 and 9 mo, 50% between 10 and 12 mo, and 40% between 13 and 24 mo. Gaps between computed critical nutrient densities and the best-scenario Guatemalan adult's diet, as a proxy for family foods, were examined.

RESULTS

Energy complementation with these diets provided adequate nutrient density for protein, thiamine, riboflavin, and vitamins B-6, B-12, and C but not vitamin A, niacin, and folate in some groups. Major gaps for calcium, iron, and zinc were ubiquitous.

CONCLUSIONS

The critical nutrient density concept is useful to evaluate the nutrient adequacy of the young child's diet. Multiple micronutrients are likely to be limited in the diets of Guatemalan young children with continued breastfeeding and family foods.