Research Description
Rural communities face a 16% higher prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) compared to urban communities. Within rural communities, adolescent girls present an important dichotomy: on one hand they are at high risk of treatment resistant T2D, and on the other hand they are developing autonomy making them receptive to intervention. Furthermore, most adolescent girls will go on to become mothers. Because children of mothers with T2D are at three times higher risk of developing T2D, improving the health of future mothers improves the health of future generations. The proposed study uses a previously successful in-person behavioral intervention that reduces cravings for unhealthy foods (and thus improves food choice and intake) and translates it into a mobile phone application for use in rural areas. The mobile regulation of craving training guides the adolescent girls to think of foods in terms of their healthy or unhealthy aspects and then asks the girls to rate their cravings. Improving food choice and controlling cravings is a simple but powerful way to prevent T2D. Improved dietary patterns have been shown to reduce T2D risk. Mobile phone applications are a cost-effective method to reach rural populations and are popular with adolescents. Importantly, mobile phone applications allow adolescents to change their behavior on their own terms, increasing autonomy and sustained use. Finally, mobile phone applications are scalable and can be adapted for a variety of other populations to improve food choice and prevent T2D.Research Profile
What area of diabetes research does your project cover? What role will this particular project play in preventing, treating and/or curing diabetes?My area of diabetes research and my project “Mobile regulation of craving training (mROC-T) to improve dietary intake in rural adolescent girls” is focused on prediabetes and type 2 diabetes prevention. The science has shown that a diet high in fiber, fruits, and vegetables is protective against prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. We also know that teenagers, particularly girls, consume less than the recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables. My project will use a mobile phone app to help encourage teenage girls in rural areas to consume more fruits and vegetables while also decreasing cravings for foods high in added sugar and fat. The regulation of craving training uses cognitive behavioral therapy to change patterns of behavior, such as dietary intake. If successful, this app will help teenagers focus on a diet full of fruits and vegetables and decrease their prediabetes and type 2 diabetes risk.
If a person with diabetes were to ask you how your project will help them in the future, how would you respond?Craving for foods high in sugar and added fats can make living with diabetes and eating healthy difficult. My project works to reduce cravings through a mobile phone app version of the regulation of craving training developed by Dr. Hedy Kober at Yale. The regulation of craving training helps individuals consider the negative aspects of eating foods high in fat and sugar and the beneficial aspects of eating fruits and vegetables. In the future this app could be very helpful to curb cravings for foods high and sugar and fat and help people meet their health goals.
Why important for you, personally, to become involved in diabetes research? What role will this award play?People living in rural areas are at higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes. As a researcher living in a majority rural state and at a state university (University of Wyoming), I have a professional and personal obligation to help prevent prediabetes and type 2 diabetes in my community. As such, this project uses mobile phones to reach rural communities. Through this project, I am also partnering with university extension professionals within these rural communities to help prevent prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. Therefore, this project is creating a research and extension network that I hope to cultivate for the present project and beyond. My long term goal is to develop a rural diabetes research network to facilitate diabetes prevention in all rural areas.
In what direction do you see the future of diabetes research going?With the results of the RISE and TODAY studies, we know that type 2 diabetes is different and more difficult to treat in adolescents. We also are beginning to understand the interplay between cognitive, behavioral, and physical health. Together, I see the future of diabetes research using cognitive strategies to prevent prediabetes and to bolster pharmaceutical treatments, particularly in children and adolescents.