Jinan Banna

Jinan Banna
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa | UH Manoa · Department of Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Sciences

PhD, RD

About

134
Publications
32,321
Reads
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Introduction
Dr. Jinan Banna's research interest is in improving dietary intake of underserved groups 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 a food behavior checklist to be used in the low-income Spanish-speaking community to evaluate nutrition education interventions. She blogs at https://www.jinanbanna.com/blog/
Additional affiliations
August 2012 - July 2017
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Position
  • Professor
August 2012 - present
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Position
  • Professor (Assistant)
September 2004 - December 2009
University of California, Davis
Position
  • PhD Student
Education
August 2004 - April 2009
University of California, Davis
Field of study
  • Nutritional Biology

Publications

Publications (134)
Article
Background Early childhood obesity prevention interventions that aim to change parent/caregiver practices related to infant (milk) feeding, food provision and parent feeding, movement (including activity, sedentary behaviour) and/or sleep health (i.e. target parental behaviour domains) are diverse and heterogeneously reported. We aimed to 1) system...
Article
Full-text available
The objective of this study was to develop and to test the validity and reliability of a survey aimed to evaluate internal and external factors associated with college food insecurity. Researchers used a mixed methods approach to evaluate the College Perspectives around Food Insecurity survey. Survey items were constructed from interview data and a...
Article
Associations were examined between sociodemographic characteristics of a US online survey sample of caregiver/adolescent dyads (n = 533) and food intake during independent eating occasions. Caregivers reported sociodemographic characteristics for dyads. Adolescents reported daily intake frequency of sugar-sweetened beverages, junk foods, sugary foo...
Article
Objective: Examine how experiencing the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic influenced adolescent independent eating occasions (iEOs) and iEO-related parenting practices from the perspective of parents and adolescents METHODS: Cross-sectional remote interviews were conducted for this basic qualitative research study. Participants were a p...
Article
Background: Frequency of independent eating occasions (iEOs) has been linked to intake of unhealthy foods and overweight/obesity among adolescents. Parenting practices involving modeling healthy food intake and making healthy foods available have been associated with healthy food intake among adolescents, however, little is known about these assoc...
Article
Background: In 2019, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (Academy) Foundation launched a project to leverage registered dietitian nutritionists (RDNs) leading 'food as medicine' (FAM) initiatives within food retail settings. Subsequently, a conceptual definition of FAM was created. Objective: This survey aimed to gauge RDNs' familiarity with...
Article
Full-text available
Objectives To test the effect of a weekly test message (SMS) intervention for improving feeding practices on infant intake of energy, nutrients, and specific food groups. Methods This study was a multi-site, randomized clinical trial, in 202 caregivers of healthy term infants participating in either the Puerto Rico or Hawaii WIC program. Participa...
Article
Full-text available
Background Existing evidence marked a prevalent use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) therapies in Lebanon that is concomitant with low rates of disclosure to health care providers and limited knowledge among the general public of safety and side effects of CAM use. Objectives To examine the perspectives of Lebanese CAM users, CAM pr...
Article
Background Previous research has reported negative health consequences and poor academic achievement among food insecure college students. It is unknown if food insecure students’ experiences qualitatively differ from food secure students. Objective To qualitatively evaluate food secure and food insecure students’ experiences with internal and ext...
Article
Background Independent eating occasions (iEOs) among adolescents were associated with poorer diet quality and overweight status in previous studies. Little is known about how iEOs (frequency and food groups/food types consumed) vary by personal (e.g., age, sex, race, ethnicity) and household (e.g., food security) characteristics and other factors (...
Article
Full-text available
Obesity is more prevalent among racial minority children in the United States, as compared to White children. Parenting practices can impact the development of children’s eating behaviors and habits. In this study, we investigated the relationships among racial/ethnic backgrounds, parenting practices and styles, and eating behaviors in adolescents....
Article
Full-text available
Objectives To test the effect of a weekly test message (SMS) program for improving feeding practices and infant weight on infant intake of specific food groups. Methods This study was a multi-site, randomized clinical trial, in 202 caregivers of healthy term infants participating in either the Puerto Rico or Hawaii WIC program. Participants were r...
Article
Full-text available
Background Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is defined as a group of diverse medical and healthcare practices outside of conventional medicine modalities. The use of CAM is steadily increasing despite gaps in the scientific evidence supporting its use and the challenges of its regulation and integration into conventional healthcare prac...
Article
Full-text available
Introduction Little is known about how early (eg, commencing antenatally or in the first 12 months after birth) obesity prevention interventions seek to change behaviour and which components are or are not effective. This study aims to (1) characterise early obesity prevention interventions in terms of target behaviours, delivery features and behav...
Article
Full-text available
Introduction: Behavioural interventions in early life appear to show some effect in reducing childhood overweight and obesity. However, uncertainty remains regarding their overall effectiveness, and whether effectiveness differs among key subgroups. These evidence gaps have prompted an increase in very early childhood obesity prevention trials wor...
Article
Full-text available
Parents play an important role in developing the eating behaviors of their children by adopting specific parenting practices. As the prevalence of obesity is high amongst African American adolescents, investigations into associations of specific parenting practices and adolescents’ eating behaviors are essential. In this exploratory study, 14 Afric...
Preprint
Full-text available
Background: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is defined as a group of diverse medical and healthcare practices outside of conventional medicine modalities. The use of CAM is steadily increasing despite gaps in the scientific evidence supporting its use and the challenges of its regulation and integration into conventional healthcare pra...
Article
Full-text available
The mobile food record™ (mFR™) is a novel app that allows for the tracking of individual food waste and addresses the limitations of current methods to accurately quantify food waste. Extension educators may use data from the mFR™ to create educational initiatives for food waste prevention and education that may be implemented in settings such as s...
Presentation
Full-text available
A Diet Quality Index Score (DQIS) was created and measured for its validity in predicting excessive weight gain in a sample of Latino infants.
Article
Full-text available
Objectives Healthcare providers have been called to intervene during the first 1000 days of life to reduce childhood obesity. Screening instruments that facilitate the identification of targets for intervention are not currently available. A Diet Quality Index Score (DQIS) was created and measured for its validity in predicting excessive weight gai...
Preprint
Full-text available
Background: A healthy pre-pregnancy BMI fosters positive outcomes for both mother and infant both during and after pregnancy. To design interventions to promote a healthy pre-pregnancy BMI in low-income women, it is important to understand correlates. The purpose of this study was to identify the socio-demographic correlates of pre-pregnancy body m...
Preprint
Full-text available
Introduction Behavioural interventions in early life appear to show some effect in reducing childhood overweight and obesity. However, uncertainty remains regarding their overall effectiveness, and whether effectiveness differs among key subgroups. These evidence gaps have prompted an increase in very early childhood obesity prevention trials world...
Preprint
Full-text available
Introduction Little is known about how early (e.g., commencing antenatally or in the first 12 months after birth) obesity prevention interventions seek to change behaviour and which components are or are not effective. This study aims to 1) characterise early obesity prevention interventions in terms of target behaviours, delivery features, and beh...
Article
Objective Test a dietary sodium survey in a US adult population of college students using a survey previously validated in a non-US adult population. Methods Cross-sectional study of a convenience sample of college students from a Midwest (n = 168) and Pacific Island (n = 152) university. Main outcome measures were knowledge, attitudes, and practi...
Article
The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, as the largest member-based nutrition organization in the world, is dedicated to advancing the world of nutrition and dietetics through research. It is essential for the Academy to identify both current and future research priorities for nutrition and dietetics professionals. To address this, the Academy conv...
Article
There is a large amount of food waste in the United States, with high financial and environmental costs. Okara, also known as soybean (curd) residue or soy pulp, is the byproduct of tofu and soy milk, has high nutrition value, and is available at a reasonable price. While it is often disposed, it may instead be incorporated into our daily diet in a...
Article
Place-based learning adapts curriculum to the unique characteristics of a particular place. This study sought to evaluate student perceptions of a place-based online introductory nutrition course (OINC) to determine the benefits and identify opportunities for improvement. Students enrolled in an OINC offered across three semesters completed online...
Article
Current salt consumption is the major risk factor for hypertension and consequently cardiovascular disease (CVD). Accurate measurement of Na intake is an important component of developing dietary interventions to treat hypertension and lower CVD risk. Given that existing methods have a large subject burden, quick and practical ways to assess Na int...
Article
Full-text available
Garden-based nutrition programs are used to address food access and nutrition in low-income communities. In urban immigrant communities, food-growing practices may be shaped by environmental and cultural factors, and may not reflect the assumptions behind these curricula. Built-environment research was adapted to develop a protocol for assessing a...
Article
Full-text available
Objectives The purpose of this study was to identify the socio-demographic correlates of pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and gestational weight gain (GWG) among low-income women in the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program in Hawai‘i. Methods Participants were low-income pregnant women (n = 83) in Hawaii enrolled in a four-month text mess...
Article
Full-text available
Objectives The objective of this trial was to investigate the effect of educational short message service (SMS), or text messages, on gestational weight gain (GWG) in a low-income population. It was expected that the intervention group, which received text messages on nutrition and physical activity during pregnancy, would experience less GWG when...
Article
Full-text available
Objectives There are limited studies testing the effect of a pregnancy educational intervention on infants’ birth weight. This study investigated the effect of a short message service (SMS), or text message, intervention for promoting adequate gestational weight gain on infants’ birth weight in a sample of pregnant women in Hawai‘i. Methods A rand...
Poster
Full-text available
The purpose of this study was to identify the socio-demographic correlates of pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and gestational weight gain (GWG) among low-income women in the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program in Hawai‘i.
Article
Full-text available
Objectives: The objective of this trial was to investigate the effect of educational short message service (SMS), or text messages, on excessive gestational weight gain (GWG) in a low-income, predominantly overweight/obese population. Methods: Participants (n = 83) were mostly overweight/obese women recruited at Special Supplemental Nutrition Pr...
Article
The relationship between sodium intake and blood pressure is a well-studied phenomenon; however, the impact of sodium intake on cardiovascular disease risk and mortality is controversial. Recent studies conclude that weak evidence exists to support sodium restriction for the prevention of cardiovascular mortality in normotensive and hypertensive ad...
Article
Full-text available
The purpose of this formative, cross-sectional study was to describe independent eating occasions (iEOs) among a convenience sample of low-income early adolescents (10–13 years, n = 46) in 10 U.S. states, including environmental context, foods selected and reasons for selection, and parental rules about foods consumed. Participants took pictures of...
Article
To determine the impact of educational programs on immigrant groups in the United States, nutrition educators must have assessment and evaluation tools that use the language and vocabulary of the target population. Filipino Americans exhibit health disparities with regard to several conditions and are an important target for nutrition education. Cu...
Article
Objective: To develop and test parent and early adolescent questionnaires to assess food parenting practices that influence early adolescent food consumption during independent eating occasions (iEOs). Methods: Cross-sectional online questionnaires were completed by 206 and 62 low-income parent/early adolescent (11-14 years) dyads at Time 1 and...
Article
Getting children to eat fruits and vegetables (FV) is an important strategy for the prevention of childhood obesity. However, efforts to increase access to FV have also resulted in many of the vegetables and fruits being wasted, leaving children without the nutritional benefits and the resources not achieving their full desired impact. Multidiscipl...
Article
Objective To determine if student outcomes, usage, perceptions, and engagement differ between introductory nutrition courses that used an open educational resource (OER) textbook compared with a traditional textbook. Design Cross-sectional. Setting College introductory nutrition course. Participants Students enrolled in introductory nutrition co...
Article
Nutrition-related problems have been increasingly prevalent among children and adults nationally and globally. Pregnant women and children are particularly susceptible to nutrition-related concerns. Mindfulness-based programs have demonstrated favorable outcomes for lifestyles and behaviors and may, therefore, assist in nutrition-related concerns....
Article
Full-text available
Background: Low-income and minority children are at increased risk for obesity. Text messaging offers advantages for delivering education, but few studies have assessed the acceptability of text messaging in interventions aimed at preventing excessive weight gain in infants. This study investigated the acceptability of a text message-based interve...
Article
Nutrition-related problems have been increasingly prevalent among children and adults nationally and globally. Pregnant women and children are particularly susceptible to nutrition-related concerns. Mindfulness-based programs have demonstrated favorable outcomes for lifestyles and behaviors and may, therefore, assist in nutrition-related concerns....
Article
Full-text available
Objective: To determine barriers, motivators, and perspectives regarding plate waste reduction of early adolescents. Design: Trained interviewers conducted audio-recorded individual interviews with adolescents. Setting: Elementary schools implementing the National School Lunch Program in Hawai'i, Montana, and Virginia. Participants: Early ad...
Poster
Full-text available
Objective: Understanding the factors that may influence food choice and adoption of healthy eating habits in diverse groups is key in designing interventions to promote a healthy diet. The objective of this study is to determine the relationship between demographic characteristics of a diverse group of adults and food involvement and variety seekin...
Article
Full-text available
Objectives The purpose of this study was to determine the acceptability of messages in a text message-based nutrition intervention for the prevention of excessive gestational weight gain in low-income women in the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program in Hawai‘i. Methods Low-income pregnant women (n = 100) in Hawaii participated in a four-mon...
Article
Objective: To identify practices that parents use to influence early adolescents' food choices during independent eating occasions (iEOs) from parent and child perspectives. Design: In-depth interviews. Participants: Low-income parents (n = 49) and early adolescent children (aged 10-13 years; n = 44) from 10 US states and the District of Colum...
Article
Full-text available
The aim of this study was to assess the association between amount (below or above recommendations), preparation (liquid vs. powder), and type (regular vs. hydrolysate) of infant formula consumed and weight in infants participating in the Women, Infant and Children (WIC) Program in Hawaii (HI) and Puerto Rico (PR). This was a secondary analysis of...
Article
Full-text available
Objective To examine relationships between frequency of adolescents eating alone (dependent variable) and diet, weight status and perceived food-related parenting practices (independent variables). Design Analyses of publicly available, cross-sectional, web-based survey data from adolescents. Setting Online consumer opinion panel. Subjects A US...
Article
Full-text available
Background: To design effective nutrition education interventions for college students, research is needed to determine the factors influencing food choices. The purpose of this study was to identify perceived barriers and enablers of healthy eating in college students ages 18-24 at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa. Methods: Prior to conductin...
Article
The number of children in Latin America with overweight and obesity has increased markedly in recent years. However, interventions focused on prevention of childhood obesity are still in their infancy in Latin America. Leveraging the use of technology in children and adolescents to introduce or reinforce patterns of healthy eating and mobility in i...
Article
Full-text available
Objectives This study investigated the association between maternal pregravid body mass index (BMI) and breastfeeding discontinuation at 4–6 months postpartum in Hawaii and Puerto Rico participants from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Methods A secondary data analysis was conducted from a text mess...
Article
Rates of obesity and associated chronic disease are high in Hispanics in the United States. Nutrition education interventions promoting dietary change in underserved populations have been shown to have positive effects on behaviors such as fruit and vegetable (FV) intake, thereby reducing the chronic disease burden. Evaluation tools in the Spanish...
Article
Full-text available
Abstract Background Calcium intake during early adolescence falls short of requirements for maximum bone accretion. Parents and the home food environment potentially influence children’s calcium intakes. This study aimed to quantify parental psychosocial factors (PSF) predicting calcium intakes of Asian, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic white (NHW) early...
Article
Full-text available
Background Excessive gestational weight gain and rapid infancy weight gain (RIWG) are associated with increased susceptibility to childhood obesity. Since low-income and minority children are particularly at risk, investigation of the associations between gestational weight gain and rate of infancy weight gain may inform childhood obesity preventio...
Article
Objective Filipinos in the US suffer from high rates of overweight and obesity. Since the year 2000, the number of people in the US who speak Tagalog, the official national language of the Philippines, has increased significantly; moreover, of the total popu‐lation of Tagalog speakers in the US, 32.8% speak English less than “very well.” Nutrition...
Article
Background Infant obesity is higher among Hispanics (14.8%) and Native Hawaiians (11.4%) compared to other groups (Blacks 8.7%; White 8.4%). The first 1,000 days of life are crucial in the development of obesity; therefore, interventions geared toward this period have the potential to prevent obesity. Interventions using short mobile messages (SMS)...
Article
Full-text available
Understanding of behavioral factors associated with obesity is of importance in addressing this issue. This study examined the association between cognitive restraint, uncontrolled eating, emotional eating and body mass index (BMI) and amount of food plated, consumed, leftovers, and leftover food thrown into the trash (food wasted) in early adolesc...
Article
Full-text available
Background: Indigenous peoples of the United States disproportionately experience chronic diseases associated with poor nutrition, including obesity and diabetes. While chronic disease related health disparities among Indigenous people are well documented, it is unknown whether interventions adequately address these health disparities. In addition...
Preprint
Full-text available
Understanding behavioral factors associated with obesity is of importance in addressing this issue. This study examined the association between cognitive restraint, uncontrolled eating, emotional eating and body mass index (BMI) and amount of food plated, consumed, leftovers, and leftover food thrown into the trash (food wasted) in early adolescent...
Poster
Full-text available
The aim of this project was to understand barriers, motivators, and perspectives on reducing plate waste of early adolescents in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) in Hawai‘i, Montana and Virginia.
Poster
Full-text available
The objective of this study was to develop short mobile messages for an intervention to prevent excessive gestational weight gain in low-income women in WIC in Hawai‘i.
Poster
Full-text available
The objective of this study was to characterize independent eating occasions among adolescents ages 10-13 years with regards to frequency, eating location, activities while eating, and types of food consumed.
Poster
Full-text available
The objectives of this study were to determine how often adolescents eat alone and to characterize occasions when adolescents eat alone, including the location, time of day, and, other activities performed while eating.
Article
Objective: To test the effects of weekly SMS for improving infant feeding practices and infant weight. Methods: This was a multi-site randomized clinical trial in a convenience sample of 202 caregivers of healthy term infants 0–2 months participating in the WIC program in Puerto Rico and Hawaii. Participants were randomized to receive SMS about inf...
Article
Full-text available
Background and objectives: In investigating diet-disease relationships, examination of dietary patterns allows for conclusions to be drawn based on overall intake. This study characterized dietary patterns of early adolescent girls over a two-year period and examined the relationship between dietary patterns and body mass index (BMI). Methods and...
Article
Cancer is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Diet, nutrition, physical inactivity, and obesity have been identified as important contributors to the increasing cancer incidence worldwide. To effectively plan interventions to reduce cancer incidence and to influence the public’s decisions regarding health behaviors, it is important for profes...
Article
Objective: To evaluate content and face validity of a collaboration readiness assessment tool developed to facilitate collaborative efforts to implement policy, systems, and environment changes in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education (SNAP-Ed). Methods: Evaluation of the validity of the tool involved 2 steps. Step 1 was conducted...
Article
Full-text available
Self-reported dietary intake data contain valuable information and have long been used in the development of nutrition programs and policy. Some degree of measurement error is always present in such data. Biological plausibility, assessed by determining whether self-reported energy intake (rEI) reflects physiological status and physical activity le...
Article
Hispanics are at high risk for diabetes. While there have been a number of diabetes prevention programs targeting Hispanics in the United States, not all recent studies focused on evaluating such programs have made use of validated tools to examine behavior change or examined acceptability and feasibility of the intervention. Tools used to assess b...
Article
Full-text available
Background: Food waste studies have been used for more than 40 years to assess nutrient intake, dietary quality, menu performance, food acceptability, cost, and effectiveness of nutrition education in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). Objective: Describe methods used to measure food waste and respective results in the NSLP across time....
Article
Objective To examine factorial validity, test-retest reliability, and internal consistency of a Tagalog-language food behavior checklist (FBC) for a low-income Filipino population. Methods Participants (n = 160) completed the FBC on 2 occasions 3 weeks apart. Factor structure was examined using principal component analysis. For internal consistenc...