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Sara Styles imageBSc(Salem) MSc(Marywood) PhD(Otago)

Email sara.styles@otago.ac.nz

Dr Sara Styles is a lecturer in the Department of Human Nutrition with a background in psychology, behavioural nutrition, and public health. Her research focuses on understanding and promoting health and well-being in the general population and people with Type 1 diabetes.

Sara has extensive expertise in the development and evaluation of behaviour change interventions to promote health. She has vast experience using qualitative and quantitative research methods (primarily surveys, feasibility studies, randomised controlled trials, and descriptive qualitative studies).

She is currently testing the feasibility of validating a snacking questionnaire for New Zealand youth with Type 1 Diabetes and using the Multiphase Optimisation Strategy (MOST) to develop an intervention to improve glycaemic control among young people with Type 1 diabetes. A Lottery Health Research-funded optimisation trial will evaluate brief intervention components targeting glucose monitoring, snacking, sleep, and motivation. Previously, she developed and tested a web-based intervention that taught women intuitive eating and psychological flexibility skills. This research found that teaching intuitive eating and psychological flexibility skills to mid-age women with a higher than recommended body mass is a promising approach for increasing intuitive eating, psychological flexibility and general mental health, as well as reducing binge eating.

Before moving to New Zealand in 2012, Sara worked as a Health Programme Specialist for Broome County Office for Aging (New York, USA). In this role, she delivered public talks on nutrition topics and co-led interventions to prevent falls and enhance skills to self-manage Type 2 Diabetes in older adults.

Sara welcomes postgraduate students with an interest in behavioural nutrition.

Memberships

  • Association for Contextual Behavioral Science

Current postgraduate students

PhD

  • Hannah Martin. Change in motivational profiles for eating behaviour over five years in New Zealand women and their associations with intuitive eating (primary supervisor).
  • Mona Elbalshy. Investigating a new Type 1 Diabetes glucose monitoring technology and its impact on children and their families (co-supervisor).
  • Ioanna Katiforis. Impact of living in a food insecure household on New Zealand infants 7.0-9.9 months of age and their primary carer (co-supervisor).
  • Shelley Rose. The role and impact of glucose monitoring technology in youth with Type 1 Diabetes (co-supervisor).

Master of Health Sciences

  • Olivia Coady. The barriers and facilitators in adhering to the New Zealand Healthy Food and Drink Guidance-Schools (2020) in New Zealand Secondary School Canteens (co-supervisor).

Master of Medical Science

  • Jessica Wong. Diabetes-related technology (co-supervisor).

Recent graduates

  • Melanie Thompson, PhD 2021. Changes in intuitive eating in mid-age New Zealand women: A mixed-methods study (primary supervisor).
  • Brooke Marsters, BMedSc(Hons) 2020. Flash glucose monitoring among youth with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus: cutaneous adverse events and sensor longevity (co-supervisor).
  • Grace Macaulay, BMedSc(Hons) 2018. Sleep disturbance in children and adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus and their parents (co-supervisor).

Publications

Wong, J. Y., Styles, S. E., Wiltshire, E. J., de Bock, M. I., Boucsein, A., Palmer, O. J., & Wheeler, B. J. (2024). Experiences of adolescents and young adults with type 1 diabetes and chronically elevated glucose levels following the transition from multiple daily injections to advanced hybrid closed-loop: A qualitative study. Diabetic Medicine. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1111/dme.15449 Journal - Research Article

Katiforis, I., Smith, C., Haszard, J. J., Styles, S. E., Leong, C., Taylor, R. W., … Daniels, L., … Rowan, M., … McLean, N. H., Cox, A. M., … Bruckner, B. R., … Heath, A.-L. M. (2024). Household food insecurity and novel complementary feeding methods in New Zealand families. Maternal & Child Nutrition, e13715. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1111/mcn.13715 Journal - Research Article

Martin, H., Stenling, A., Styles, S., & Hargreaves, E. (2024). Motivational profiles for eating and their association with intuitive eating, maladaptive eating, and self-reported health. Proceedings of the International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity (ISBNPA) 23rd Annual Meeting. Retrieved from https://annualmeeting.isbnpa.org/ Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Gray, M., Boucsein, A., Zhou, Y., Haszard, J. J., Jefferies, C. A., Wiltshire, E. J., Styles, S. E., … de Bock, M. I., & Wheeler, B. J. (2024). Relationship between carbohydrate counting and carbohydrate announcement to glycaemic control in young people using AHCL insulin delivery. Proceedings of the 47th New Zealand Society for the Study of Diabetes (NZSSD) Annual Scientific Meeting. O23. Retrieved from https://www.nzssd.org.nz/ Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Boucsein, A., Zhou, Y., Haszard, J. J., Jefferies, C. A., Wiltshire, E. J., Styles, S. E., … Galland, B. C., … de Bock, M. I., & Wheeler, B. J. (2024). Protocol for a prospective, multicenter, parallel-group, open-label randomized controlled trial comparing standard care with Closed lOoP In chiLdren and yOuth with Type 1 diabetes and high-risk glycemic control: The CO-PILOT trial. Journal of Diabetes & Metabolic Disorders. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1007/s40200-024-01397-4 Journal - Research Other

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