Photo of Melanie D Hingle
Melanie D Hingle
Associate Professor, BIO5 Institute
Associate Professor, Nutritional Sciences
Associate Professor, Public Health
Primary Department
Nutritional Sciences-Res
Department Affiliations
Nutritional Sciences-Res
(520) 621-3087
hinglem@email.arizona.edu
Work Summary
Melanie Hingle's work focuses on understanding determinants of energy balance behaviors (i.e. how and why behaviors are initiated and sustained), and identifying contributors to the success of interventions (i.e. when, where, and how interventions should be delivered) are critical steps toward developing programs that effectively change behavior, thereby mitigating unhealthy weight gain and promoting optimal health. Current projects include: Determinants of metabolic risk, and amelioration of risk, in pediatric cancer survivors, Guided imagery intervention delivered via a mobile software application to increase healthy eating and physical activity in weight-concerned women smokers, and Family-focused diabetes prevention program delivered in partnership with the YMCA.
Research Interest
Identify and understand determinants of behavioral, weight-related, and metabolic outcomes in children, adolescents, and families, including how and why so-called “obesogenic behaviors” (unhealthy dietary habits, sedentary behaviors) are initiated and sustained. Develop and test novel approaches to motivate healthy lifestyle changes in children, adolescents, and families, including development, testing, and assessment of face-to-face and mobile device-based interventions.

Publications

Hingle, M., Turner, T., Kutob, R., Merchant, N., Roe, D., Stump, C., & Going, S. B. (2015). The EPIC Kids Study: A Randomized Family-Focused YMCA-Based Intervention to Prevent Type 2 Diabetes in At-Risk Youth. BMC Public Health.
BIO5 Collaborators
Scott B Going, Melanie D Hingle

BMC Public Health. 2015 Dec 18;15:1253. doi: 10.1186/s12889-015-2595-3.

Hingle, M., Nichter, M., Medeiros, M., & Grace, S. (2013). Texting for Health: The Use of Participatory Methods to Develop Healthy Lifestyle Messages for Teens. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 45, 12-19.
BIO5 Collaborators
Scott B Going, Melanie D Hingle
Tabung, F. K., Steck, S. E., Zhang, J., Ma, Y., Liese, A. D., Agalliu, I., Hingle, M., Hou, L., Hurley, T. G., Jiao, L., Martin, L. W., Millen, A. E., Park, H. L., Rosal, M. C., Shikany, J. M., Shivappa, N., Ockene, J. K., & Hebert, J. R. (2015). Construct validation of the dietary inflammatory index among postmenopausal women. Annals of epidemiology, 25(6), 398-405.

Many dietary factors have either proinflammatory or anti-inflammatory properties. We previously developed a dietary inflammatory index (DII) to assess the inflammatory potential of diet. In this study, we conducted a construct validation of the DII based on data from a food frequency questionnaire and three inflammatory biomarkers in a subsample of 2567 postmenopausal women in the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study.

Hingle, M. D., O'Connor, T. M., Dave, J. M., & Baranowski, T. (2010). Parental involvement in interventions to improve child dietary intake: A systematic review. Preventive Medicine, 51(2), 103-111.

PMID: 20462509;PMCID: PMC2906688;Abstract:

Objective: Interventions that aim to improve child dietary quality and reduce disease risk often involve parents. The most effective methods to engage parents remain unclear. A systematic review of interventions designed to change child and adolescent dietary behavior was conducted to answer whether parent involvement enhanced intervention effectiveness, and what type of involvement was most effective in achieving desired outcomes. Method: In 2008, Pub Med, Medline, Psych Info, and Cochrane Library databases were searched to identify programs designed to change child and adolescent dietary intake that also involved parents. Methods of parental involvement were categorized based on the type and intensity of parental involvement. These methods were compared against intervention design, dietary outcomes, and quality of reporting (evaluated using CONSORT checklist) for each study. Results: The literature search identified 1774 articles and 24 met review criteria. Four studies systematically evaluated parent involvement with inconsistent results. Indirect methods to engage parents were most commonly used, although direct approaches were more likely to result in positive outcomes. Four studies met > 70% of CONSORT items. Conclusion: Limited conclusions may be drawn regarding the best method to involve parents in changing child diet to promote health. However, direct methods show promise and warrant further research. © 2010 The Institute For Cancer Prevention.

Gordon, J. S., Armin, J. S., Hingle, M. D., Giacobbi, P., Cunningham, J. K., Johnson, T., Abbate, K., Howe, C. L., & Roe, D. (2016). Development and Evaluation of the See Me Smoke-Free Multi-Behavioral mHealth App for Women Smokers. Translational Behavioral Medicine.