Jun 30 2010
Press Statement on Andrew Lansley Speech
Harry MacMillan, Chief Executive of MEND, a social enterprise that provides free afterschool healthy lifestyle programmes for families, comments on Andrew Lansley’s statement on tackling public health problems:
“We welcome Andrew Lansley’s emphasis on an evidence-based approach to dealing with public health in his speech today at the BMA conference. While Jamie Oliver’s campaign has been successful in raising awareness of the problems families face in sticking to a healthy diet, this needs to be combined with taking positive and practical action on the ground.
“We are encouraged by Andrew Lansley’s enthusiasm for supporting people through behaviour change programmes, as this really is the key to improving public health and having a real, long term effect on families’ lives. MEND is the epitome of this approach, through our community-based healthy lifestyle programmes for families, the new government can reverse obesity trends and succeed in delivering cost effective, evidence-based solutions to tackle public health problems.”
-Ends-
Notes to editors
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 (MEND 2-4, MEND 5-7 and MEND 7-13)
· The MEND 7-13 Programme was devised by Great Ormond Street Hospital and the University College London’s Institute of Child Health
· The MEND 7-13 Programme is run in over 300 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.
