We accept referrals

GPs, school nurses and other health professionals find that our Programmes are positive referral options as part of their local obesity care pathways.

The MEND 7-13 Programme is effective in achieving statistically significant and sustained improvements in key health outcomes at 12 months such as BMI, waist circumference, increased participation in and uptake of physical activity and reduced sedentary behaviour, as well as substantial improvements in self-esteem.

Referrals of overweight and obese children between the ages of 7 and 13 are extremely welcome with the families' agreement. It should be noted that the Programme is not suitable for children with any serious medical, developmental, psychiatric or physical condition.

Individual MEND 7-13 Programme sites apply different inclusion criteria for the Programme, and some choose to run the course as a prevention programme (in which case they will generally accept overweight children above the 91st BMI centile) or as a treatment programme (in which case they will accept children above the 98th BMI centile). This varies from site to site, and is a function of both locally-agreed priorities or targets and the source of the funding for the local Programme.

Referrals for the MEND 2-4 Programme and the MEND 5-7 Programme are also welcome with the parents' permission. MEND 2-4 is suitable for children of all weights between the ages of 2 and 4.

Health professionals can get further information on refering by calling freephone 0800 230 0263 or families can self refer online here https://www.ommsonline.org/register.html

The MEND team has a policy of writing to GPs to inform them if any of their patients register for the Programme.

Health professionals who would like an information pack about the Programme should contact us with their address and contact details.