News: Young people in Wales celebrate healthier lives with MEND

27 November 2009, Welsh Assembly Government

A Welsh Assembly Government-funded programme is today [Thursday, 26 November] celebrating its first year of success in helping young people in Wales become fitter, healthier and happier.

Mind, Exercise, Nutrition, Do it! (MEND) is a Wales-wide scheme that helps children aged 7 to 13 and their families to lead healthier lives and lose weight in a fun and interactive way.

In the past twelve months, 514 families have been involved in MEND courses in Wales. Today's event sees 15 children in Port Talbot graduating from the 10-week course.

Changes seen in children who have completed the MEND programme include weight loss; smaller waist sizes; increased fitness due to more exercise; less time spent watching TV and playing video games and improvements in self-esteem and confidence.

In the twice-weekly sessions, families learnt how to make healthier choices when shopping, how to cook nutritious, tasty meals and have taken part in activity sessions designed to increase their balance, agility, coordination and confidence.

As well as providing children with the opportunity to become healthier through small changes to their diet and increased physically activity, they also make new friends with other children in the same situation and parents build supportive networks in their local areas.

Thanks to £1.4 million of Welsh Assembly Government funding, the course now runs in 14 venues across Wales (increasing to 21 in January 2010).

Attending the anniversary event, Jane Wilkinson, Deputy Chief Medical Officer for Wales said:

"It can be really tough for children who are overweight, both physically and emotionally and it is important that we tackle this issue in Wales.

"Over the last year MEND has had some great successes, but there is still a lot to do. We need to develop healthy behaviours and