"Healthy Dance" - Youth Empowering Youth

“The Healthy Dance” is an educational music video created by youth in East Harlem, New York who participate in the Supportive Children's Advocacy Network New York (SCAN) after-school enrichment program in collaboration with the Communities IMPACT Diabetes Center, a community-academic coalition focused on diabetes prevention and control. This video shows adolescents who wrote, performed and recorded a song urging their peers to eat healthy and be more physically active for their general well-being and to prevent the diabetes that disproportionately impacts their community. The process of making the video is a fun, interactive way for youth to become engaged in thinking about and improving their lifestyles. In addition, it gives them an opportunity to deliver positive health messages to their peers and gives their peers an opportunity to receive these messages from a trusted source in an age and culturally appropriate manner. “The Healthy Dance” reinforces our belief that community members of all ages have the power to impact and transform their communities into healthier, places to live, work, and play.