Middle School students continue their Walk Around the World with the Bermuda Diabetes Association. Bermuda?s population, like that of many countries, is succumbing to the effects of increased technology and irregular eating habits. The result is that with modern technological devices such as television, computers, and video games coupled with increased snacking and less family-orientated mealtimes we are, as a population, gaining weight from a very young age.

?These facts in isolation may not seem newsworthy, however when one looks more deeply into the direct effects they are having on chronic health issues and the related social and economic impact they are having on our community, things begin to look a little frightening,? said Trevor Madeiros, president of the Bermuda Diabetes Association.

?Just 25 years ago, diabetes was not a major disease in Bermuda and neither was obesity.

?Schools had active and regimented physical education programmes and junk foods were not as prevalent.?

One of the goals of the Bermuda Diabetes Association is to educate everyone about the causes and management of diabetes.

?Last year the Association was one of the recipients of a donation from the Ross (Blackie) Talbot Charity Golf Tournament,? said Mr. Madeiros.

?With this donation we embarked on the ?Walk around the World? initiative with Bermuda?s M1 and M2 students with the blessing of the Ministry of Education and with much help from the teachers involved in monitoring the programme.

?Every student in these years was given their own pedometer, a small device which counts the number of steps a person makes daily. Students are recording their steps and converting them into distance.?

The Walk Around the World programme runs through to May and the class, which records the most steps on an average per student will be awarded a monetary prize of $1,000. The second prize receives $500 and third and fourth places receive $250 each.

?With many of the teachers taking an interest in the exercise, separate prizes are to be awarded to the top three competing teachers,? he said.

?With eight out of ten schools registering interim reports, there are some interesting results and leading the pack are the M2 students of Mount Saint Agnes who are averaging 8,761 steps per day.

?They are closely followed by Saltus Grammar School with 8,199 steps per day. Warwick Academy is a close third with 7,895 per student.?

The leading teacher is Jackie Tailford who is co-coordinating step counts for Mount Saint Agnes, with an average of 9,484 steps per day. And Jan Shaw from Saltus is close behind with an 8,797 step average.

At the moment, Bermuda High School has probably been the most active school in promoting activities. ?With interclass class competition, prefect and staff involvement and notes sent home to parents explaining the programme, they have been ably led by teachers Mary Faulkenberry and Lucy Peters,? said Mr. Madeirios.

?BHS has the most students participating in the programme with 129 and the M1 students are averaging 6,843 steps per day.

?Clearwater has been doing well, led my Wayne Henry and Denise Berry and 39 students in M2 are averaging 6,288 steps per day.

?The most comprehensive results have come from Dellwood Middle School, largely due to the efforts of Dianne Laird. Dellwood has ten separate classes competing, with nine of the ten submitting up to date results. An M2 class leads the way with students averaging 4,497 steps per day.

?At Spice Valley Middle School, Steve Halischeck, has been the guiding force behind Spice Valley?s participation and we know that M1 had walked 19,701,250 steps and M2 15,820,075.