1. SINGING YOUR WAY TO HEALTH
By Elana Frydman

2. Overall Project
Developed alternative lyrics to existing songs that
communicated obesity prevention strategies to children
between the ages of six and nine years.
Goal
• Deliver health messages that promote health behaviors and
are known to reduce risk of obesity among children in a
memorable and engaging way.
Targeted Outcome
• Develop evidence-based educational materials that will
effectively familiarize children with health recommendations for
obesity prevention.

3. Background
Childhood overweight and obesity
rates:
• United States: 33%
• Chicago: 58%- 68%
Setting:
• Chicago, IL
• 5 Participants between the ages of
six and nine years
• Chicago Public School Students
• Parental Approval
(Crowther, 2012) (Governor, 2011) , (Overweight and Obesity, 2013) (Ogden et al., 2014)
Evidence has shown that music is an
effective method of teaching:
• Triggers memories and activates
recall of thoughts
• Songs increase acceptability
• Sustainable method for retention of
information
• Creates a relaxed environment
• Easy to remember
• Can listen over and over again

4. Methods
Key Objectives
1) Pilot test songs as a communication method to deliver evidence-based health
messages to children
2) Evaluate the extent to which the health songs can be used for health
education
3) To assess whether children
• (a) have learned positive health behaviors
• (b) have changed their preferences regarding certain health behaviors
Pre-test/ Post-test
• 6 questions
• Avoid interview fatigue
• Capture attention
• Participants interviewed individually
• Analyzed responses to assess if children learned from songs
(Baranowski & Perry, 1997; Olson& Hergenhahn, 2009)

5. Social Cognitive Theory
• The SCT maintains that learning occurs:
• By observing & modeling the behaviors & attitudes of others
• The best in a social environment
• Learning process has 2 dimensions:
1. Cognitive dimension– involve individual processes of cognition
and personal understandings
2. Social dimension– addresses context of learning
(Baranowski & Perry, 1997; Olson& Hergenhahn, 2009)
Behavior
Personal Factors
(Cognitive)
Environmental Factors
(Social)

6. Methods
• Identified important health messages for obesity prevention for 6-9 year olds.
• Composed alternative song lyrics to 3 familiar songs on the radio, each
targeting a health recommendation:
Song Title/ Composer Health Recommendation Song Theme
“Blank Space”- Taylor Swift Drink 5 glasses of water daily and
avoid sugar-sweetened beverages.
Drink water.
“Let it Go”- Frozen Eat breakfast daily. Avoid skipping
breakfast.
Eat breakfast.
“Cheerleader”- OMI Spend at least 60 minutes doing
moderate to vigorous play or physical
activity daily.
Exercise.
(Baidal & Taveras 2012), (Davis et al., 2007), (Gidding et al., 2006)
*See song lyrics at the end of this presentation* Familiar  Relatable
 Catchy
 Easy to remember
 Age appropriate

7. Methods
Each participant completed all 3 steps of the study in one
day.
1) Pre-test
2) Intervention
• Introduced 3 different health songs
• Practiced each song 4-5 times with children
3) Post-test
• Immediately after children learned and rehearsed the songs

8. Pre/Post-Test Questionnaire
Question Correct answer
(based on song)
1. Can you tell me what you think children should do
when they are thirsty?
Drink water
2. Can you tell me how many glasses of water you think
you should drink everyday?
5 glasses
3. What are some of the things children can eat for
breakfast?
Oatmeal, fruit, anything healthy.
4. How can we make sure that children don’t skip
breakfast? Can you mention a strategy?
Take it to go.
5. Why do you need to eat breakfast? Otherwise you may feel weak.
6. How often do you think children should exercise? 60 min/day
Table 1

9. Results: Pre-Test
Table 2
Question Child 1 Child 2 Child 3 Child 4 Child 5
1. “Get water or
some other
drink.”
“Drink water and a
little bit of juice.”
“Drink
Gatorade.”
“Water or
something
similar.”
“Apple juice
or water.”
2. “2 glasses” “4 glasses “ “3 water
bottles
filled.”
“3 glasses, one
with each
meal.“
“Not sure.”
3. “Frosted Flakes
and cheerios are
the healthiest ones
I know.”
“Cheerios, but not
the honey ones
because they are too
sweet; Yogurt. For
breakfast you
shouldn’t have too
much sugar because
you’ll get too hyper
in the morning.”
“Eggs and
bacon or
cereal.”
“Cinnamon
Toast
Crunch.”
“Waffles or
cereal and
juice.”
4. “Have mom ask
what you want for
breakfast.”
“Don’t know.” “Don’t leave
the house
without
eating
breakfast.”
“Eat
something you
like.”
“I don’t
know.”
5. “So they can stay
healthy and not
feel hungry in the
morning.”
“To stay healthy and
fit.”
“Because it’s
the most
important
meal of the
day”
“If I don’t eat
breakfast I get
too hungry
before lunch”
“So you
don’t feel
hungry all
day.”
6. “2x day for 10
min everyday.”
“2 hours everyday.” “Everyday” “Everyday in
the morning
and at night”
“10 minutes
everyday.”
Water
Breakfast
Exercise

10. “Blank Space”-Taylor Swift
• Example of a catchy song that I chose to remix for the
purposes of health education on obesity prevention.

11. “5 Glasses of Water-a-Day” -Elana Frydman
So you gotta drink some water,
Don’t let it go down the drain.
You shouldn’t drink that soda,
‘Cause that much sugar wouldn’t help you anyway.
Not a lot of people realize,
That you’re simply thirsty all day.
Gotta drink five glasses of water-a-day,
And you’ll win the game!

12. Results: Post-Test
Table 3
Question Child 1 Child 2 Child 3 Child 4 Child 5
1. “Drink water,
not soda.
“Drink 5
glasses of
water a day.”
“Drink water
and not pop.”
“Water” “Water or
juice.”
2. “5 glasses. “ “5 glasses.” “5 glasses.” “5 glasses.” “5 glasses.”
3. “Fruit or
cereal.”
“Oatmeal and
yogurt.”
“Oatmeal.” “Whatever
you want, as
long as you
eat.”
“Oatmeal or
fruit or
cereal.”
4. “Take it to go.” “Let them eat
it anywhere
they want.”
“Eat it out and
take it to go.”
“Eat it
wherever you
want.”
“Take it to
go.”
5. “To stay
healthy.”
“To stay
healthy and not
weak.”
“So you’re not
weak.”
“Because
you’ll be
hungry and
weak.”
“To be
healthy and
have energy.”
6. “An hour-a-
day.”
“An-hour-a-
day.”
“An-hour-a-
day.”
“An-hour-a-
day.”
“An hour-a-
day.”
”Water
Breakfast
Exercise

13. Discussion
• Using familiar tunes to educate children was an effective
method of delivery in this study.
• Children are able to learn health recommendations in a short
period of time through the use of songs.
• Participants enjoyed singing to songs they know and were able
to remember the songs.
• Participants appreciated the interactive and engaging
environment.

14. Limitations and Advantages
 Short Questionnaire  Time Constraint
 All participants were students of
Chicago Public Schools
 Inability to complete IRB training
 Children were cooperative  Trouble recruiting participants
 Children easily entertained  Small sample size
 Participants exhibited
enthusiasm and positive attitudes
 Sample not random
 Children enjoy learning in fun
and social way
 Only boys in sample

15. Recommendations
• Test this intervention on
• Larger sample size
• Random sample including both males and females
• Rehearse the songs with children over a longer period of time
• 4x/day for 1 week
• Repetition enhances memory
• Songs successful at communicating health recommendations
to the children in this study
• Using songs to teach children may be appropriate

16. Acknowledgements
A special thank you to:
• Dr. Klonoff-Cohen, PhD, Director of MPH Program, UIUC
• Capstone Faculty Advisor
• Liliana Aguayo, MPH. PhD Student, UIUC
• Capstone Supervisor
• Lena Hann, MPH, CHES
• MPH Coordinator, UIUC
• Participants in my study

17. Works Cited
• Baidal, J. A. W., & Taveras, E. M. (2012). Childhood obesity: shifting the focus to early prevention. Archives
of pediatrics & adolescent medicine, 166(12), 1179-1181.
• Baranowski, T., Perry, C. L., & Parcel, G. S. (1997). How individuals, environments, and
health behavior interact. In K. Glanz, F. M. Lewis, & B. K. Rimer (Eds.), Health behavior and
health education: Theory, research and practice (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass
• Bellezza FS. (1981). Mnemonic devices: classification, characteristics, and criteria. Rev
Education Resources(51), 247–275.
• Crowther, G. (2012). Using Science Songs to Enhance Learning: An Interdisciplinary
Approach.CBE - Life Sciences Education, 11(1), 26-30.
• Davis, M. M., Gance-Cleveland, B., Hassink, S., Johnson, R., Paradis, G., & Resnicow,
K. (2007). Recommendations for prevention of childhood obesity. Pediatrics,
120(Supplement 4), S229-S253.
• Giddling, S., Dennison, B., Birch, L., Daniels, S., Gilman, M., Lichtenstein, A., Rattay,
K., Steinberger, J., Stettler, N., and Van Horn, L. (February 2006). Dietary Recommendations for Children
and Adolescents: A guide for practitioners. Journal of Pediatrics, 117(2), 544-559.
• Governor D. PhD Dissertation. Athens: University of Georgia; 2011. Teaching and
learning science through song: exploring the experiences of students and teachers.
• Nader, P. R., Huang, T. T. K., Gahagan, S., Kumanyika, S., Hammond, R. A., &
Christoffel, K. K. (2012). Next steps in obesity prevention: altering early life systems to support healthy
parents, infants, and toddlers. Childhood Obesity (Formerly Obesity and Weight Management), 8(3),
195-204.
• Olson, M.H. & Hergenhahn, B.R. (2009). Introduction to Theories of Learning. (8th ed.)

18. Questions?
“How
about an
hour a
day?”
How much shouldyou exercise?

19. “Let it Go”-Frozen
Eat Your Breakfast Edition

20. “Cheerleader”-OMI
Exercise an Hour-a-Day Edition