MEND research
MEND has a 20-year research partnership with two of the country'sleading child health institutions, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children
NHS Trust and the Institute of Child Health at University College London.
- Click here to see the MEND poster presented at the North American Association for the Study of Obesity (NAASO) Annual Scientific Meeting (October 2007).
- Click here to see the MEND presentation presented at the European Congress on Obesity (April 2007).
The MEND feasibility study (2002-2003) involved 11 children between the ages of 7-11 and their families and proved to be a huge success. Measurements were taken at 0, 3 and 6 months and showed statistically significant improvements in health outcomes more...
MEND Large Pilot Study
In 2005-2006 we conducted a large pilot trial (65 children) to determine if the MEND Programme was effective in improving body composition and health outcomes in obese 8-12 year old children. more...
Current Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT)
A large multi-site, ethically approved, randomised controlled trial (RCT) of the MEND Programme began in April 2005 and finished in January 2007. The results were presented at the North American Association for the Study of Obesity (NAASO) Annual Scientific Meeting on 28th October 2007, the 17th Annual Meeting of the European Childhood Obesity Group (ECOG) on 7th July 2007 and the European Congress on Obesity (ECO) on 23rd April 2007. more...
Future MEND research
At present MEND is developing a variety of different avenues for future research into childhood obesity and related diseases.
MEND's main focus areas:
- To develop the MEND Programme to benefit other groups such as children with diabetes, toddlers, children with special educational needs, children from minority ethnic groups, and adults
- Use of the MEND Programme to prevent development of clinical conditions such as the Metabolic Syndrome
- To prevent healthy weight children becoming overweight/obese
- Maintenance studies focusing on efficacy, morbidity and cost effectiveness
- Incorporation of e-mentoring and text messages as a way to improve long-term outcome
- Comparison of the clinical effectiveness of the MEND Programme versus metformin or obesity surgery in adolescents