Page Contents
Overview
Hip Hop to Health Jr. is a direct education intervention designed to encourage healthy eating and exercise for children ages 3-5 years.
Target Behavior: Healthy Eating, Physical Activity
Intervention Type: Direct Education
Intervention Reach and Adoption
Hip Hop to Health Jr. prioritizes African American/Black and Latino preschool students. The efficacy and effectiveness trials for Hip Hop to Health Jr. were conducted in Head Start programs in Chicago.
Setting: Child care
Target Audience: Preschool (<5 years old)
Race/Ethnicity: African Americans, Hispanic/Latino Americans
Intervention Components
Hip Hop to Health Jr. is a 14-week curriculum consisting of weekly lessons focused on themes such as fruits, vegetables, heart healthy exercise, and healthy snacks. Lessons feature food group puppets. An aerobic activity session is included in each lesson. Weekly parent newsletters include content covered in the children’s curriculum and include a homework assignment. Parents also receive the CD that teachers use in the classroom so that concepts can be reinforced at home.
Intervention Materials
The curriculum features weekly lessons related to healthy eating and exercise, food group puppets, a CD with songs and raps and two fully scripted exercise routines, and parent newsletters.
Intervention Costs
$150 per set
Evidence Summary
Efficacy Trial (Lessons taught by specially trained early childhood educators)
- Children attending the intervention schools had significantly smaller increases in BMI compared with children attending the control schools at both one and two-year follow-up for predominately African American schools, but not predominately Latino schools.
- Saturated fat intake was significantly lower in children attending the intervention schools compared with children attending the control schools at 1-year follow-up.
- Publications include:
- Stolley MR, Fitzgibbon ML, Dyer A, Van Horn L, Kaufer Christoffel K, Schiffer L. Hip-Hop to Health Jr., an obesity prevention program for minority preschool children: baseline characteristics of participants. Prev Med. 2003 Mar;36(3):320-9. doi: 10.1016/s0091-7435(02)00068-3. PMID: 12634023.
- Fitzgibbon ML, Stolley MR, Schiffer L, Van Horn L, Kaufer Christoffel K, Dyer A. Two-year follow-up results for Hip-Hop to Health Jr.: a randomized controlled trial for overweight prevention in preschool minority children. J Pediatr. 2005 May;146(5):618-25. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2004.12.019. PMID: 15870664.
- Fitzgibbon ML, Stolley MR, Schiffer L, Van Horn L, KauferChristoffel K, Dyer A. Hip-Hop to Health Jr. for Latino preschool children. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2006 Sep;14(9):1616-25. doi: 10.1038/oby.2006.186. PMID: 17030973.
Effectiveness Trial (lessons taught by classroom teachers)
- Children attending the intervention schools had significantly higher levels of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity levels and less total screen time than children attending control schools post-intervention.
- Publications include:
Classification: Research-tested
Evaluation Indicators
Based on the SNAP-Ed Evaluation Framework, the following outcome indicators can be used to evaluate intervention progress and success.
| Readiness and Capacity – Short Term (ST) | Changes – Medium Term (MT) | Effectiveness and Maintenance – Long Term (LT) | Population Results (R) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individual | ST1, ST3 | MT1, MT3 | LT1, LT3 | |
| Environmental Settings | ||||
| Sectors of Influence |
Evaluation Materials
Currently, no evaluation tools or materials are available.
Additional Information
Website: The Hip Hop to Health Jr. website includes Hip Hop to Health Music for purchase.
Contact Person(s):
Laura Blumstein
Email: llb@uic.edu
Phone: 312-996-9028
*Updated as of September 11, 2023