Local stores get cash to help tackle obesity

Nov 14 2008 by Chris Robinson, The Journal

Healthy eating scheme transformed family life

TEN-YEAR-OLD Cassandra Henderson used to snack on crisps and would tuck into kebabs for her evening meal.

When the youngster was seven, she tipped the scales at nine and a half stone.

But the family’s life has been transformed after they were enrolled on a national workshop tackling childhood obesity.

They are part of the MEND project, an initiative which aims to make children and their families become fitter and healthier.

The youngster now attends classes twice a week to help with her diet and improve her exercise and has already lost more than a stone in weight.

Last night, her mother Clare, of Chopwell, Gateshead, welcomed Change4Life and encouraged families to jump on board.

She said: "It’s about time. We are out in the sticks here and there’s nothing around us. Hopefully it will just change everything. There’s quite a lot of kids in her predicament, that are overweight, and I can’t stress how important something is to change their lives."

Cassandra, a pupil at Chopwell Primary School, now enjoys eating bananas and oranges, riding her bike and playing outside with her friends and dance at school.

Her mum added: "It has been hard, especially at the start, but I’m glad we have stuck to it. There has been such a massive improvement in her lifestyle.

"Before she was nervous and very timid. She’s so much more confident, she just laughs off the name calling and it goes over her head. I am so proud of her."

Clare, 34, who works in a takeaway, would often take her daughter something unhealthy home for her tea. The 10-year-old also has an intolerance to certain dairy products.

They now cook meals at home, something which has brought mother and daughter closer together. "She’s a totally different child, it’s changed her life and it has changed mine," said Clare.