Top tips for your family

At MEND, we give families all sorts of ideas to help them get fitter, healthier and happier. 

Why not challenge everyone in your family to follow our top tips? You can start right away and we promise you’ll soon start feeling the difference.

MEND’s top 10 tips:
1. Eat breakfast every day
Some ideas include: a piece of fruit, a low fat yoghurt, wholegrain cereal (try oat or whole wheat varieties), some toast (whole meal or granary bread are best)
2. Keep refreshed
Drink six to eight cups of water every day (tap water is fine, environmentally friendly and practically free)
3.Limit soft drinks
Stick to a maximum of one glass (200ml) of fruit juice a day and try to limit sugary fizzy drinks
4.Switch to wholegrain foods
Swap ‘white’ varieties of starchy foods (such as bread, pasta and rice) for whole meal or wholegrain varieties, which are less refined and keep you feeling fuller for longer
5. Stick to your five-a-day
Eat at least five fruit and vegetable servings a day. Why not go to the local market or supermarket and see if you can pick up something new or unusual for everyone to try
6. Keep an eye on treats
Try to limit your treats to no more than five per week (such as a small bag of crisps, two small biscuits, small slice of cake, small chocolate bar or one small tube or treat sized bag of sweets (20-28g)).
7. Limit your screen time
Try not to spend more than two hours a day in total watching TV, on the computer (excluding homework) or playing electronic games
8. Exercise regularly
Do at least two exercise sessions per week which make your heartbeat and breathing faster
9. Keep active
Organise at least one activity a week to get the whole family moving and play outdoors after school and on the weekend as often as possible
10. Use the car less
Try walking or cycling to school and other places whenever you can, and get off the bus a few stops early so you can stretch your legs

If you join a MEND Programme or Mini-MEND Programme you’ll learn so much more.  Why not take a look at what other families have to say about their experiences, and see if it might be suitable for you?