Rate My Professor Maha Hanna

Maha Hanna is a Professional Practice Fellow in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Otago, associated with the Department of Women's and Children's Health in the Dunedin School of Medicine. She has served in various capacities at the university since April 2009, including as Project Manager, Research Coordinator and Supervisor, POI-nz study measurement coordinator and lead anthropometric measurer, study admin support, and Teaching Fellow in the Centre for Early Learning in Medicine. Her educational background comprises a Bachelor of Medicine from Cairo University, a Diploma in Pediatrics from Ain Shams University, and a Diploma in Public Health from the University of Otago.

Hanna's scholarly work emphasizes early childhood health, specifically interventions targeting sleep, nutrition, and physical activity to mitigate obesity risk and foster optimal growth from infancy through preschool years. She has made significant contributions to the Prevention of Overweight in Infancy (POI) randomized controlled trial, including its three-year follow-up protocol and assessments at ages 3.5 and 5 years. Notable publications co-authored by Hanna include: "Sleep, nutrition, and physical activity interventions to prevent obesity in infancy: Follow-up of the Prevention of Overweight in Infancy (POI) randomized controlled trial at ages 3.5 and 5 y" (Taylor et al., 2018, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition); "24-h movement behaviors from infancy to preschool: cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships with body composition and bone health" (Taylor et al., 2018, International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity); "A longitudinal study of parental discipline up to 5 years" (Lawrence et al., 2021, Journal of Family Studies); "Do young children consistently meet 24-h sleep and activity guidelines? A longitudinal analysis using actigraphy" (Meredith-Jones et al., 2019, International Journal of Obesity); "Examining the accuracy of the New Zealand B4 School Check universal health service anthropometric measurements of children" (Hatch et al., 2019, New Zealand Medical Journal); "Eating frequency in relation to BMI in very young children: a longitudinal analysis" (Taylor et al., 2017, Public Health Nutrition); and "Targeting Sleep, Food, and Activity in Infants for Obesity Prevention: An RCT" (Taylor et al., 2017, Pediatrics). These peer-reviewed articles document her involvement in longitudinal analyses and clinical trials advancing pediatric preventive health strategies.