Banna, Jinan

Dr. Jinan Banna is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Sciences at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She is a registered dietitian, and completed her dietetic internship at New York Presbyterian Hospital. Her research interest is in improving dietary intake of underserved children and adolescents domestically and internationally and developing tools to assess food behaviors and dietary intake, particularly in Spanish-speaking populations. Her doctoral work at the University of California, Davis involved the development of two tools, a food behavior checklist and physical activity questionnaire, to be used in the low-income Spanish-speaking community in the U.S. to develop program goals and to evaluate nutrition education interventions. She also worked as a research scientist at the Instituto de Investigación Nutricional in Lima, Peru, where she conducted a research study focused on assessing the dietary habits of adolescents in a periurban community. Dr. Banna is currently the principal investigator on a USDA-funded study focused on identifying cultural attitudes and beliefs associated that may impact weight and dietary intake in a multiethnic population of adolescents in Hawaii. She is also a member of a multi-state project focused on motivating parents to promote intake of calcium rich foods among early adolescents. In addition to her research activities, Dr. Banna also teaches courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels such as Community Nutrition, Concepts in Nutrition Education, and Advanced Child and Adolescent Nutrition.

http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/hnfas/individualPages/banna.html