MORE than 200 obese kids in Tower Hamlets are being given a helping hand to shred the pounds as a healthy project kicked-off this week. The MEND programme which aims to teach 7-11-year-olds and their parents for 10 weeks about how to get fit and eat hea

MORE than 200 obese kids in Tower Hamlets are being given a helping hand to shred the pounds as a healthy project kicked-off this week.

The MEND programme which aims to teach 7-11-year-olds and their parents for 10 weeks about how to get fit and eat healthily was launched on Tuesday at Mile End Leisure Centre.

The latest figures revealed more of Tower Hamlets' 10 and 11-year-olds are obese than ever before with 39 per cent of kids in Year 6 struggling with weight problems.

The data obtained through the National Child Measurement Programme also exposed nearly a quarter of four and five-year-olds are overweight or obese.

But the MEND - Mind, Exercise, Nutrition...Do it - programme which was set up through Great Ormond Street Hospital and the University College London Institute of Child Health, will be offering kids two-hourly sessions twice a week in which they learn about health eating and take part in different activities.

The programme has been used in Tower Hamlets before, helping around 118 families but thanks to funding from Morgan Stanley International Foundation, it has been rolled out again for another two years.