Doug E. Fresh and others make music for Hip Hop Public Health

Hip Hop Public Health announced today its fourth annual Hip Hop Public Health Summit, which takes place Wednesday, June 20^th  from 10am – 1pm, at Harlem Hospital Center ……(506 Lenox Avenue, New York, NY) and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (515 Lenox Avenue), to showcase its acclaimed Hip Hop H.E.A.L.S. (Healthy Eating and Living in Schools) program, celebrate the release of its second music CD, and launch three new additions to its education curriculum:

• Hip Hop FEET (Finding Exercise and Energy Thresholds), a physical activity-based, educational program, taught by master educators and integrating exercise physiology principles with Hip Hop music and dance;
• Hip Hop POP (Pouring On the Pounds), an educational program that illustrates how sugar sweetened beverages are costly, to both personal health and finances;
• Old SCHOOL (Seniors Can Have Optimal Aging and Ongoing Longevity), which uses music, dance, comic books, and other multimedia tools to deliver dementia literacy to school children, to demystify the concept of aging and memory loss.

The summit will be hosted by hip-hop icon Doug E. Fresh, Easy A.D. of the legendary Cold Crush Brothers, and Artie Green, musical director of Hip Hop Public Health, and feature DMC and Chuck D from the trailblazing groups Run DMC and Public Enemy. Public officials such as Councilwoman Inez Dickens will also join the gathering of 300 elementary school students from Harlem, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx . Eight of these students will be honored for their participation on the Hip Hop Public Health advisory board, responsible for developing the three latest initiatives. 

To help encourage physical activity and nourishing diets throughout the summer months, healthy food catered by Harlem-based Doug E’s will be served, and dance displays, art activities, and music and animated features that reinforce nutrition education and the importance of daily exercise will be highlighted. The event is co-sponsored by the New York City Council, Columbia University Medical Center , Harlem Hospital Center , and Hip Hop USA .

Activities will include:

• An X-Box 360 Competition   (Dance Central Contest and Calorie Count);

• A sneaker design contest, where participants reflecting on what it takes to be healthy will create designs that may eventually become a custom athletic shoe.

For further information, visit http://hiphoppublichealth.org/.