Diabetes is a condition that is considered to be an epidemic in Bermuda and around the world.

According to recent statistics, 14 percent of Bermuda's population has diabetes, with the large majority having Type 2, the onset of which is often, but not always, considered to be the result of unhealthy lifestyle habits.

As many as 9,000 Bermudians were estimated to have diabetes in 2008.

Type 2 diabetes constitutes about 85 to 95 percent of all diabetes in developed countries and accounts for an even higher percentage in developing countries.

In 2008, the Bermuda Diabetes Association revealed that diabetics on dialysis cost Bermuda more than $16 million a year and nearly four diabetics a year get kidney transplants at $200,000 each.