Suffolk PCT Launches MEND Programme to Help Local Children and Families Fight Obesity
Obese children in Suffolk are being offered an exciting opportunity to take part in the MEND Programme -- an active, fun-based programme aimed at tackling the problems associated with childhood obesity. Suffolk PCT will be running its first programme from November 2006. Over 300 children and their parents will be offered places on the MEND Programme.
Suffolk, UK (PRWEB) November 10, 2006 -- Obese children from schools in Suffolk are being offered an exciting opportunity to take part in the MEND Programme -- an active, fun-based programme aimed at tackling the problems associated with childhood obesity.
Suffolk PCT will be running its first MEND programme from November 2006. Over 300 children and their parents will be offered places on the MEND Programme. The 10-week programme involves fun activities to improve cardiovascular fitness, exercise tolerance, nutrition and self-esteem. Previous MEND Programmes have been successfully run in Lewisham, Southwark, Lambeth, Bromley and Waveney with impressive results.
The MEND Programme provides a unique opportunity for families to learn practical ways to successfully address the challenges of childhood obesity. The MEND Programme requires at least one parent or adult carer to attend each session with their child, as the programme aims to improve the entire family's eating and exercise habits, thereby promoting sustained improvements in overall health, fitness and wellbeing. MEND is not a diet, and the focus is not on simply losing weight.
In 2005, a large pilot study of the MEND Programme was conducted with 42 obese 7- to 11-year-old children. After three months, their self-esteem (as evaluated using validated self-esteem questionnaires) had significantly improved and they all experienced significant improvements in BMI (body mass index), waist circumference and fitness levels.
Paul Sacher, MEND's Research Director who heads the current research into MEND at the Institute of Child Health, says:
"Childhood obesity in the UK has reached epidemic levels where drastic action is urgently needed to prevent it rising further. Preventative action is also needed to prevent children entering adulthood with all the associated obesity problems such as heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure. MEND has been developed as an effective treatment programme that can be easily and effectively integrated in a community setting and rolled out at local leisure centres, schools and children's centres."
Activities on the MEND Programme include swimming and land-based games, nutrition sessions, a supermarket tour and a recipe-tasting evening. Behavioural management techniques will also be used to encourage children to be more active and change their eating habits. Children participating on previous MEND Programmes have said the following about MEND:
"I never liked wearing jeans before, now I wear them all the time and I even had to put an extra hole in my belt!"
"I won an athletics trophy for performance at the athletics school day -- something I never dreamed of accomplishing before being on MEND!"
"The only thing I didn't like about the MEND Programme is that it had to end!"
If you would like to sign up for the MEND Programme or would like more information, please contact Norman Foster on 01449 618 240.
The MEND programme in Suffolk is being supported by the Suffolk Primary Care Trust.
Further details on the MEND Programme are available at http://www.mendprogramme.org.
Information for parents and schools: If you would like your children/school to be involved in the programme, please contact Norman Foster on 01449 618 240
MEND press contact: Madeline Freeman, 0870 609 1405
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