8:50am Tuesday 16th December 2008
By Barrie Hudson
A POPULAR course that guides young people to health and fitness through fun is coming back.
MEND (Mind Exercise Nutrition Do It) gives children aged from seven to 13 a chance to do fun, physical activities and learn how to choose healthy foods.
The courses, run by Swindon Primary Care Trust, are aimed at young people who want to improve their health and fitness but are perhaps turned off or simply bored by conventional games and gym sessions.
Since last year there have been four highly successful courses, and two more will begin next month - one at Highworth Recreation Centre and the other at Swindon’s Link Centre.
MEND operates nationwide, but the Swindon area’s sessions are run by programme manager Ben Humphrey.
He said: “The main theme of the MEND courses is that they are fun. Joining is not like being at school - it’s about young people taking control of their health and having the knowledge to do that.
“The benefits include being a lot more confident and health conscious, making healthy food choices by reading labels and taking more exercise instead of spending so much time in front of the television.
“The key to it all, though, is our commitment to families.”
When young people and their parents come along to a MEND course, the children take part in fun activities in the gym and pool.
There is no need for the children to be swimmers or enthusiastic about sports - indeed, the activities are aimed specifically at young people who are reluctant to take part in conventional PE.
The children and their parents are also educated in friendly talks about healthy eating, including advice on how to read food labels properly, how to balance food intake and how to tell the difference between genuine hunger and a mere craving.
Ben added: “I’ve come across families on our courses who are a little nervous at first because they think they’re going to be lectured or judged, but that’s not what MEND is about.
“It’s about health, education, empowerment and fun. A healthy lifestyle can seem difficult to maintain under some of the pressures of modern life, but it can be done and MEND can help.”
So far, more than 50 people have benefited from MEND. Places at the next courses, which will each consist of 18 sessions, are likely to be taken up quickly, so anybody.
Further information is available from Ben on 07815 776593 and at bhumphrey@swindon.gov.uk
Sellars Family
NINE-year-old Francesca Sellars wasn’t sure whether she’d enjoy the MEND course, but soon grew to love its combination of fun and learning. Her course recently finished, but the eight young members
and their parents plan on keeping in touch by getting together regularly. Their first gathering will be an ice-skating outing. Francesca said: “It’s a really fun course, and you get to learn loads
of stuff. Now I check food labels in the shops - I just want to make sure things are healthy before I eat them.”
Francesca lives in Gorse Hill with mum Kim, 41, and dad Gary, 42. She has a 12-year-old brother, Joe. Kim became interested in the course after seeing it advertised in the Swindon Advertiser and at her doctor’s surgery. She said: “I knew MEND was something that could help Francesca live more healthily because she wasn’t really the sporty type. “I gave Ben Humphrey a ring, and Francesca was accepted for the course. We were not sure what it was going to be like.” The parents didn’t realise there would be so much for the children to do, such as the games in the pool and the sports hall. “The course is also very educational and helpful for mums and dads as well as their children, and I’d recommend it to anybody who thinks their child might benefit. ”
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