Chubby children mend their ways

Families celebrate weight loss with MEND at Oldham Sports Centre.

YOUNGSTERS in Oldham are improving their health, fitness and well being as they buck the national obesity trend.

MEND (Mind, Exercise, Nutrition, Do it) is a free 10-week programme for seven to 13-year-olds who are above their ideal weight. It was developed by experts at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital and the Institute of Child Health.

Youngsters get the chance to make new friends as they play games, talk to nutritionists, take supermarket tours and try out new recipes to get them thinking of ways to be healthier in the long term.

The problem of obesity has reached epic proportions with 155 million children classed as obese across the world including three million in the UK.

Obesity leads to serious health problems such as diabetes, gallstones, high blood pressure, heart disease and joint problems as well as reducing life expectancy.

MEND aims to turn the tide of obesity and educate today’s children in the hope that future generations will be fitter, healthier and happier.

The pioneering scheme, which has been run locally by Oldham Community Health Services (part of Oldham Primary Care Trust) since July, 2007, won the Overall Best Practise Award at a ceremony in Coventry last month.

Emma Haman, MEND programme manager at OCHS, said: “We are working with key partners to tackle the obesity epidemic head on. The programmes being delivered are about improving health and behaviour and not rapid weight loss. We are just as interested in increasing confidence and self-esteem as increasing their knowledge of healthy food and promoting physical activity.”

All MEND sessions take place after school and children must bring a parent or guardian with them. The idea behind the programme is to educate the whole family to improve health and nutrition.

For younger children in the borough (two to four-year-olds) there is Mini-MEND as well as SHINE (Self Help, Independence, Nutrition and Exercise) for teenagers.

A parent of 10-year-old twin boys who participated in the MEND programme said she signed up because her sons were getting teased about their weight at school.

Before the programme the boys vital statistics were: - Twin A (4 ft 8, nearly 7st) and Twin B (4ft 7, 61/2st).

Over the 10-week course, the boys lost almost 2st each as well as reducing their waist-lines Body Mass Index and blood pressure.

Their mum said: “Instantly the boys found the sessions fun and inviting and as a parent I was made to feel welcome and relaxed by staff and other parents. It was comforting to be able to speak to like-minded people who had children in the same boat as us.

“The boys took part in all kinds of activities such as swimming, a supermarket tour and dodgeball. Together we learnt about healthy eating, MEND-friendly foods and how to read food labels.

“It has not just changed their way of eating but mine too and we now buy less fatty food and I cook more. We have all learnt to live a healthy lifestyle — we still have takeaways and sweet stuff, just not as often.

“The difference it has made to our lives has been amazing. The boys’ asthma has improved and they have more energy.

“They aren’t being teased any more at school which is definitely due to the weight loss and they have kept up with the exercise. MEND is the best thing we ever did — my boys wouldn’t be as fit, healthy or happy if they had not taken part in the programme.”

MEND programmes will run at in Shaw, the Honeywell Centre in Hathershaw and Oldham Sports Centre from January.

Future SHINE programmes are also being planned. Anyone interested in taking part in MEND or SHINE can call Waveney or Sarah on 0161-621 7121. For mini-MEND call Sure Start in Rock Street on 0161-633 9951 or visit www.mendprogramme.org