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Hip-Hop to Health Jr

An Evidence-Based Practice

Description

Hip-Hop to Health Jr. is an obesity prevention program for minority preschool children. The intervention was developed with input from pediatricians, early childhood educators, exercise physiologists, community health advocates, and experts in minority health. The intervention was designed to be effective for both overweight children and children who are at risk for becoming obese. Hip-Hop to Health Jr. is a 14-week healthy eating and exercise program, which was designed for implementation in preschool classrooms. The curriculum consists of 3 weekly sessions. The lesson plans incorporate two major components: a 20-min lesson, consisting of a healthy eating or exercise concept with an activity, and 20 minutes of ongoing physical activity. The lessons involve the use of colorful and friendly handheld puppets that represent the seven food groups of the food pyramid. The puppets lead the children in intervention activities and adventures. The activity session involves games, songs, and dancing. The parents also receive weekly newsletters which contain curriculum information, homework activities, and coupons for health food options.

Goal / Mission

The goal of Hip-Hop to Health Jr is to reduce gains in BMI in preschool minority children.

Results / Accomplishments

Multiple studies have evaluated Hip-Hop to Health Jr, mainly looking at its effect in reducing body mass index. One such study, a randomized controlled trial,was conducted to assess the impact of the intervention in Head Start programs. Chicago-based Head Start classes were either randomized to the Hip-Hop to Health Jr intervention or to the control group. Intervention children had significantly smaller increases in BMI compared with control children at the 1-year follow-up (p=0.01). In addition, intervention children showed a significant difference in percent of calories from saturated fat (p=0.002). The intervention was deemed effective by the investigators and represents a promising approach to prevention of overweight minority children.

About this Promising Practice

Organization(s)
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, The Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University
Primary Contact
Marian L. Fitzgibbon
Institute for Health Research and Policy
University of Illinois at Chicago
1747 West Roosevelt Road, Room 558
Chicago, IL 60608
mlf@uic.edu
http://www.hiphoptohealth.com/
Topics
Health / Children's Health
Health / Physical Activity
Organization(s)
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, The Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University
Date of publication
2005
Location
Chicago
For more details
http://www.promisingpractices.net/program.asp?prog...
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15870664
Target Audience
Children, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

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An Evidence-Based Practice meets the following HCI criteria:

  1. The program description includes at a minimum: the sponsoring organization, program goals, program implementation steps, and outcomes that have demonstrated program success in achieving the program goal in one or more localities.
  2. The results from an evaluation of the program include quantitative measures showing improvement in the outcome(s) of interest after the implementation of the program (i.e. increase in smoking cessation, not just the delivery of a smoking cessation program). The outcome measure(s) is/are compared at relevant time periods before and after the intervention or program implementation. Alternatively, the evaluation study compares the outcome(s) between an intervention group and an appropriate control group.
  3. The study is of peer-review quality and presents numbers in a scientific manner; measurements of precision and reliability are included (e.g. confidence intervals, standard errors), results from statistical tests show a significant difference or change in the outcome measure(s), and relevant point estimates and p-values are presented. Note: if the results from an evaluation of a program are presented in a scientific manner and the outcome measure is improved compared to the baseline measurement or the control group but the difference is not statistically significant, the practice is classified as effective and not evidence-based.