Hip Hop to Health: An Interactive Approach for Promoting Health in Preschool Aged Children

Toni Mercer, MS, Early Childhood Intervention Coordinator,UIC Chicago Partnership for Health Promotion

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Hip Hop to Health

Presented by:

Antonia Mercer, MS

Early Childhood Intervention Coordinator

Chicago Partnership for Health Promotion (CPHP)

•A SNAP-Ed program which focuses on nutrition education, physical activity and obesity prevention.

•Programs are evidence-based and focused on behavior change.

Who We Are

Who We Are

Our Mission•To provide high quality nutrition education and health promotion programs, in partnership with SNAP eligible individuals, families and communities in Chicago.

Our Goal•To bring healthy lifestyle messages into communities where Chicagoans live, work, eat, worship and play.

•To improve the likelihood that persons eligible for SNAP will make healthy choices within budget and choose active lifestyles consistent with the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans and MyPlate.

Who We Serve

• CPHP serves low-income communities in Chicago that are eligible for SNAP.

• Through 7 interventions, CPHP focuses programming in Chicago neighborhoods and at venues with a high proportion of eligible participants providing services for all age groups.

• The Early Childhood Intervention provides education to Head Start and qualifying preschool youth and caregivers that promotes the consumption of healthy diets, daily physical activity and positive health behaviors specific to obesity prevention.

The Team

•Intervention Coordinator Antonia Mercer

•Health Education Specialist Adenike Sosina

•Nutrition Peer Educators -Evonne Flournoy -Amber Henley-Tifannie Howard

Objectives

• To understand how the Hip Hop to Health program is implemented in an early care and education setting

• To provide innovative ideas on how to engage children in health education and physical activity

• How to assess the impact of the program on the children’s nutrition and physical activity knowledge

Hip Hop to Health Research Study

• What Is It?

- Hip Hop to Health (HH2H) is an evidence-based obesity prevention curriculum for young children.

• Who Developed It?

- HH2H was developed in 1999 by Dr. Marian Fitzgibbon and Dr. Melinda Stolley. They tested the intervention, tracking changes in body mass index among 3- to 5-year-old minority, low-income children who were randomized to either experience the HH2H curriculum or a general health intervention.

Hip Hop to Health Research Study

• How Was It Developed?

⁻ A grant was received from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to integrate obesity-prevention strategies into programs delivered to low-income families.

⁻ Dr. Marian Fitzgibbon and her team partnered with existing nutrition programs that provide information on basic nutrition, food budgeting, shopping skills and food safety to low-income families.

USDA funded award#: 2011-67001-30109

Hip Hop to Health (HH2H) –Direct-Ed Objectives:

•Children will identify what foods are Go and Grow vs. Slow Foods

•Children will be able to classify foods as a fruit, vegetable, grain, protein or dairy

•Children will identify what activities are Go and Grow vs. Slow Activities

Implementation of Curriculum

Direct Education (20 minutes)

Includes:

-Core Lesson (Books or Games)

-1 Activity

(Tastings, Sing-a-longs, or Games)

Physical Activity (20 minutes)

Includes:

-HH2H CD or Downloaded Version

-Session 1 or Session 2

HH2H Program Highlights

• Pre test

• Interactive Lessons

• Games

• Books/Stories

• Food Puppets

• Dancing

• Tastings

• Post test

Curriculum

Original Version

• 8 Lessons total

-6 core lessons, 2 optional lessons

• Each lesson includes 3 activity options

• Vegetable Soup Book

• Fruit and Veggie “Eat the Rainbow”

• Several Examples for Protein & Grain lessons

CPHP Modified Version

• All 8 lessons are now “core” lessons

• Core lesson and 1 activity given

• Added Book: Garden Safari

• Coloring Sheet Added

• Condensed food examples to 3

• Condensed PA lesson

• Physical Activity Cards Added

• Snack Tasting Added

Data: 2016-17, N=315 Students

Data: 2016-17, N=314 Students

Dual Implementation- Multifaceted

• Hip Hop to Health + Go NAP SACC Student & Teacher

Go NAP SACC (Nutrition and Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Child Care) is an assessment tool that is used to improve a program’s practices, policies and environments to meet “Best Practices” in these five areas:

• Breastfeeding & Infant Feeding

• Child Nutrition

• Infant & Child Physical Activity

• Outdoor Play and Learning

• Screen Time

Go NAPSACC Implementation

• 8 weeks

• Pretest- NAPSACC assessment

• Review of assessment

• Goal setting (2-4 goals)

• Identify barriers

• Technical assistance (TA)

• Post test- NAPSACC assessment

Lessons Learned

• Tailor curriculum to the population being served

• Use of pre and post tests to determine effectiveness of intervention and inform modifications

• Implementation of HH2H in Family Child Care Homes

Next Steps

• Collaborate with Chicago Public Schools (CPS) to integrate HH2H into all pre-k classrooms.

• Train Family Child Care Home providers on HH2H in order to integrate into their facilities

Hip Hop to Health Research Study

• To learn more about the study, please visit: https://www.ihrp.uic.edu/content/1-million-usda-grant-aims-reduce-obesity-among-preschool-kids