Today Sainsbury’s announces its commitment to tackling the problems of childhood obesity through an extended partnership with the UK’s leading obesity prevention and treatment programme MEND (Mind, Exercise, Nutrition, Diet).
MEND is a community, family-based programme for overweight and obese children aged between 7-12 and their families. The 10 week programme led by Paul Sacher Specialist Dietitian and Clinical Research Fellow at the Institute of Child Health, Great Ormond Street Hospital encourages family involvement, practical education in nutrition and diet, increasing physical activity and behavioural change.
Sainsbury’s has donated time and resources to helping the MEND Programme develop the research behind this innovative new Programme for 7-12 year old children and their families, who are struggling with obesity. The scheme also involves visits to a store where they are given the opportunity to put their new found knowledge into action to make sensible, nutritionally balanced choices in the supermarket.
In addition experts from MEND including Paul Sacher are working with the Sainsbury’s nutrition team lending weight and expertise to the development of new and existing products for sale in the store and schemes to tackle obesity.
A study, sponsored by Sainsbury’s in 2002, was successfully piloted with a group of obese children and results revealed significant improvements in cardiovascular fitness, self-esteem and reduced waist circumference.
The 10-week MEND Programme is practical, hands on and above all fun. It encourages participation in games, visual demonstrations and activities and aims to create positive changes in fitness levels, eating habits, diet, family relationships and increased self-esteem. The Programme is designed to deliver sustained improvements in families’ diets, fitness levels and overall health.
Paul Sacher says,
“The MEND Programme has been developed as an effective obesity treatment and prevention programme that can be rolled out locally at venues such as schools, leisure centres and sports facilities. Our pilot study has demonstrated the success of this programme and we look forward to growing the MEND Programme further with Sainsbury’s support.”
Beth Flower, Sainsbury’s Nutritionist comments
“We are proud to be working with and supporting MEND. Sainsbury’s are aware there is a need for greater understanding of the cause and effect of childhood obesity and as such believe there is lots MEND is able to teach us as a supermarket to tackle this problem.”
Sainsbury’s involvement in the MEND Programme further compliments the Active Kids campaign, designed to encourage children to get involved in and enjoy exercising.
