MEND: Free Program For Fitter, Healthier & Happier Families! North Vancouver session starts Oct 16 – and enter to win Flex10 Family Pass!

If you’re a busy mom with young kids like me, you know how hard it is to find time to eat right and get enough exercise. And because I know our kids model our behaviour, I worry about what I’m teaching my girls when they see me struggling to prioritize healthy living over other things on our never-ending family “to do” list!

This is why I’m very excited to learn that the MEND program is coming to North Vancouver this fall!

MEND (Mind, Exercise, Nutrition, Do it!) is a 10-week family based education program designed to help children and their families get fitter, healthier and happier together. The program facilitates safe, effective and long-lasting changes by improving children’s physical activity levels, nutrition and self-esteem. MEND has been running in B.C. since 2013 in several communities with success, and the results indicate that it is making a difference. Participants of the program have decreased screen time on average by 1.2 hours per week and increased physical activity by 2.2 hours per week. It has also improved their self-esteem and children feel more confident.

Families who attend the MEND program experience many positive benefits, including:

• Families learn how to make healthier choices and get active together
• Children become fitter and healthier
• Children are able to concentrate better at school
• Children find new friends and parents find a support network to keep them motivated.

During the program, families learn all aspects of nutrition, including how to make healthier food choices, learn how to read food labels, understand fats and sugars, the difference between unrefined and refined foods and how to prepare a healthy, balanced meal. Above all, the families learn how to have fun together as a a family with games that can be played long after the program ends.

Watch this short video clip to see how the MEND program is helping local families:

The 10-week MEND program launches in North Vancouver starting October 16th, 2015:

• Where: Harry Jerome: 123 23rd Street East, North Vancouver
• Who: Parents and their children aged 7 – 13

And guess what? Families who participate in this program in North Vancouver also receive the following once they’ve finished:

• Annual swim / skate pass for all family members (1 year) (including free access to public & family skating at all NVRC facilities)
• Fitness Services Orientation for parents (1-on-1 meeting to tour the weight room and create a basic workout program)
• 20 fitness drop-ins for each parent (including access to fitness centres and classes)
• Credit towards a fall recreation program of the child’s choice (focus of program must be a physical activity – sport, dance, swim, martial arts, etc.).

For more information about the MEND program, please visit www.bchealthykids.ca.

To register for the program, call Tracy Wakaluk at 604-983-6401 or email wakalukt@nvrc.ca. 

And to be entered to win a FLEX10 card to the NVRC for up to a family of 4 (max 2 adults), comment on this blog post below or on our Facebook giveaway post and tell us what you do to stay healthy as a family!

Giveaway open to North Vancouver residents only and ends Oct 14th, 2015.

CONGRATS TO HEATHER P. from North Vancouver who has won a FLEX10 card to the NVRC for her family!