Jun 15 2010
MEND and NOF launch inaugural National Childhood Obesity Week
A leading obesity charity has joined forces with a social enterprise that delivers free after-school healthy living programmes to families to launch the first-ever UK awareness week to focus on child obesity issues.
The National Obesity Forum (NOF) and MEND will launch the inaugural National Childhood Obesity Week on Monday 5th July, with the week running until Sunday 11th July.
At the outset of the Week, the obesity organisations will launch a Charter calling on the new coalition government to set out its strategy for tackling childhood obesity, including a clear plan of action and new targets for reducing child obesity levels. The Charter will detail what should be included in the childhood obesity strategy. NOF and MEND are currently calling for other organisations concerned with childhood obesity to sign-up to the Charter.
Tam Fry, Board member of NOF, said: “The inaugural National Childhood Obesity Week must act as a prompt for the new coalition government to take urgent action to tackle the child obesity crisis and reverse existing trends that are severely damaging the health of our nation's children".
Harry MacMillan, Chief Executive of MEND, said: “We’re hoping a combined voice on the issue of obesity will highlight to the government our commitment to support them to reduce childhood obesity."
During the Week, MEND’s network of 350 healthy living programmes across the UK will be holding fun physical activity events for families in their local area. The events form part of MEND Move It Week which has been organised to coincide with National Childhood Obesity Week. MEND Move It Week aims to encourage families to spend more time being active together.
For more information about National Childhood Obesity Week go to www.mendcentral.org/ncow
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For media enquiries please contact Lucy Hannagan on 020 7231 7225 or lucy.hannagan@mendcentral.org . For out-of-hours enquiries please call 07872 506996.
Notes to editors:
· National Childhood Obesity Week runs from Monday 5th – Sunday 11th July and is the first ever UK awareness week to focus exclusively on childhood obesity issues.
About NOF
· The National Obesity Forum (NOF) was established by medical practitioners in May 2000 to raise awareness of the growing health impact that being overweight or obese was having on patients and the National Health Service (NHS).
About MEND
· MEND (Mind, Exercise, Nutrition...Do it!) is a social enterprise that runs free healthy lifestyle programmes for two – 13 year olds and their families
· The MEND Programme was devised by Great Ormond Street Hospital and the University College London’s Institute of Child Health
· The MEND Programme is run in over 350 sites across the UK per term and has helped over 17,000 families
· MEND’s healthy lifestyle programmes are developed and tested by obesity specialists for delivery by a range of public and private sector partners.
· MEND is a National Third Sector Partner of the Department of Health’s Change4Life campaign.
