MEND in Pembroke

Local programme for overweight and obese children is working, a new study reveals

A study published this week (28 January) in the journal Obesity proves the success of a community-based weight management programme MEND (Mind, Exercise, Nutrition... Do It!) for overweight and obese children.  

MEND is currently running a programme in Pembroke for children aged 7 - 13. This is the 4th programme to have run in the Pembrokeshire area helping over 45 local families become fitter, healthier and happier.

116 children aged between eight and 12 years took part in the study, which involved attending a nine week MEND programme, followed by the provision of 12-weeks of free family swimming between January 2005 and January 2007.

Participants in the study lost weight, lowered their BMI and waist circumference, and improved their self esteem and physical activity levels. Their general health, including cardiovascular fitness, also improved.

The MEND Programme is a free 10-week, after-school weight management course where overweight and obese children and their families learn how to eat healthily and enjoy physical activity.  Fifteen thousand families have benefitted from the MEND Programme since it was established in 2004, with 350 MEND Programmes delivered across the UK per term.

Helen Stewart, MEND Programme Manager for Pembrokeshire said: "This new study provides rock-solid evidence that the MEND Programme helps children lose weight and keep it off, as well as improving their self-esteem. To have the study results published in Obesity journal is a clear indicator that the MEND Programme is working.  These research findings prove that teaching children how to keep fit and eat healthily, like we do on the MEND Programme, does work if done in the right way."

"MEND is currently running a programme in Pembroke and we aim to run 3 more throughout Pembrokeshire to ensure more children in the area can benefit."

The independent study, conducted by a team at University College London Institute of Child Health (ICH), is the first randomised controlled trial in the UK to investigate the benefits of a community-based child weight management programme.

Professor Atul Singhal, paediatrician and head of clinical trials in the Childhood Nutrition Research Centre at ICH, said: "These results suggest that the MEND programme helps overweight and obese children lose weight. They also show that child weight management programmes have a positive effect on a child's health and so could help to address the rising obesity problem in children."

By the final year of primary school, nearly one in three children aged 10 or 11 is overweight, according to the latest data from the Government's National Child Measurement Programme in schools.

For more information or to register for a MEND Programme in Pembrokeshire call the Programme Manager, Helen  on 07958 438785 freephone 0800 230 0263 or visit www.mendprogramme.org (opens new window)