About
Dr. Jiying Ling has committed herself to research in the area of school- and home-based bio-behavioral interventions to reduce obesity, as well as promoting mental, emotional, and behavioral health among racially diverse, marginalized families. Her program of research has been directed toward using existing techniques and innovative theoretical frameworks to actively engage parents or legal guardians in assisting marginalized children to build resiliency for optimal early childhood development, thereby contributing to promoting whole child health and reducing health disparities. After numerous studies, she developed and tested three interventions: FirstStep2Health; Happy Family, Healthy Kids; and Eat My ABCs. These interventions targeted the bidirectional intergenerational influence between parents and children to promote healthy lifestyle, prevent obesity, and improve mental well-being.
Given the significant food-body-mind connections emphasizing the linkages among eating behavior, physical activity, weight status, and mental well-being to help foster optimum physical, emotional, and mental fitness among young children, Dr. Ling developed the Food-Body-Mind intervention. This comprehensive intervention combines mindful eating, movement (e.g., yoga, deep breathing exercises), and parenting to improve young children’s physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral health. Dr. Ling has received funding from the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health to conduct a clinical trial to test the effects of the intervention on improving both children’s and parents’ physical and mental well-being in urban and rural settings. In addition, objective assessments (anthropometric scales, ActiGraph) and biomarkers (hair cortisol, skin carotenoids, blood pressure) will be applied to increase outcome measurement reliability and validity. The results will improve the evidence base of complementary and integrative health approaches that can be delivered in geographically diverse daycare settings.
Having a master’s degree in biostatistics, she is also interested in scale development and evaluation, as well as the application of statistics in behavioral research.
Dr. Ling’s research contributes toward achieving optimal whole-child
health and improving health equity through engaging community-based organizations and addressing social determinants of health affecting marginalized children and their families. She has diligently disseminated her research findings in published manuscripts and presentations at national and international nursing and interdisciplinary venues. She also disseminates her work through multiple media outlets, assuring awareness of her findings to lay audiences.