Health Minister Nelson Bascome encouraged the public to continue efforts to adopt healthy lifestyles at the Well Bermuda Symposium yesterday morning.

He said that too many people still think of death, disease, diet and exercise as the "full picture" of health, when the concept is really more encompassing.

"Well Bermuda was developed to provide a unifying vision and voice for health promoters from all sectors of our community.

"It was intended to be the spring board to the overall betterment of the health of Bermuda's residents.

"For us health is as much about the caring for the sick, as it is about ensuring that the restaurants we eat in are clean and safe, about ensuring that vulnerable groups like seniors and children are well looked after, about ensuring that the public is aware of information on how to be better parents; and it is also about diet and exercise," Mr. Bascome said.

The Minister said that health concerns are very different than they were 50 years ago, adding that the most significant problems in Bermuda today are related to lifestyle factors.

Since Well Bermuda's launch nearly two years ago, action plans have been created to tackle obesity and diabetes, promote better parenting and improve the quality of life for seniors and those with disabilities, he stated.

"As part of these action plans, community interventions have been delivered like the vending machine policy for Government buildings, the Food Label Literacy Campaign, Live Healthy Bermuda, the No Instructions parenting campaign, a seniors' needs assessment and more," Mr. Bascome explained.

The Minister also explained four prongs that have been added to the Well Bermuda strategy – asthma, mental health, violence and road traffic injuries.

"Well Bermuda has never purported to be the dawning of health promotion on our Island.

"A huge volume of health promotion activity is carried out on a daily basis by all of you in this room, and many of you have been doing it long before our strategy arrived," Mr. Bascome said. He continued: "The strategy is merely an effort to provide a single voice and a shared agenda for all of us who want to see a better, healthier Bermuda.

"We aspire to a Bermuda where everyone can enjoy a state of complete physical, social and mental well-being."