MEND your child to better health

MEND (Mind, Nutrition, Exercise…Do it!) is an organisation dedicated to reducing global obesity and over-weight children; providing support for families that want to make a change to their lifestyle.

“We are a social enterprise, working with local, regional, national and international partners to achieve our shared vision of fitter, healthier and happier families.”

MEND aims to achieve a happier and healthier world by:
•    Developing effective and research-based obesity prevention and treatment programmes, training and resources
•    Working alongside partners from the private, public, voluntary and academic sectors to make our services available at a community level on the widest possible scale
•    Training people who come into contact with overweight and obese children so they can provide families with the best possible support
•    Building one of the largest bodies of evidence worldwide on child obesity prevention and treatment

“Our mission is to enable a significant, measurable and sustainable reduction in global childhood and family overweight and obesity levels.”

MEND have developed a programme that can be attended by families in order to learn about leading a healthier and active lifestyle. The fun course has been developed for families with children aged 7-13 whose weight is above the healthy range for their age and height.

The programme is totally free and runs twice weekly after school in two-hour sessions over 10 weeks. Research has proven that the programme really works, it was developed by child health experts and with the support from their parents or carers, children learn how to lead healthier lifestyles, improve their fitness and the way they feel about their bodies.

In a typical session there is an hour’s interactive workshop for children and parents and an hour’s exercise for the children whilst the parents engage in discussion. Measurements in fitness levels and weight are taken prior to the programme and on finishing the programme, there is follow up contact including newsletters, reunion events and telephone support.

MEND promises to deliver:
“If your family joins a MEND Programme, we will teach you about nutrition and how to eat a balanced diet. We’ll also help you learn how to be more active, and show you some clever mind tricks to help you keep up your motivation. We will help you make changes gradually so you can stick to your new healthy lifestyle and show you skills to change your attitudes towards food and exercise so you can feel fitter, healthier and happier – for good.”

The Programme is valuable but offered FREE to families as MEND has secured local, regional and national funding partners to ensure that nobody misses out on this life-changing experience.

You can enrol on the nearest MEND Programme now or contact MEND if you have any questions.
All of the MEND Programmes are run by local teams employed by local and national organisations.

If you are interested in finding out more about how to run a Programme in your area, please click here.