A suggestion that Bermuda?s women might need to have more children to make up for the Island?s increasingly ageing population could set off a dangerous train of thought in teenagers.

That?s the warning from Family Centre executive director Martha Dismont in reaction to the controversial idea put forward this week by Bermuda Public Services Union general secretary Ed Ball.

Mr. Ball raised the question while speaking about social issues Bermuda needs to take stock off, including the challenge of an increasingly ageing population with fewer youngsters around to replace seniors retiring from the workforce.

A similar demographic situation in Japan has led to its Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to recently make a remark that was interpreted by many as a call for Japanese women to have more babies.

Ms Dismont?s first concern was that teenage girls on the Island would pick up on Mr. Ball?s musings and decide they should have more babies.

She said: ?We are not Japan. It has different cultural norms.

?Yes, we need to think about the ageing population and the workforce, but Bermuda is different and it needs to have it?s own solution, so let?s do real research.?

She added: ?Bermuda could be a model example. We need to ask what will make Bermuda healthy. We should start with that end in mind and how do we achieve a healthy island. Are we raising healthy, educated adults for the workforce??

One issue that does arise in small insular communities, such as remote islands, is the medical dangers posed by a small gene pool of inhabitants.

When asked for her view, Ms Dismont said: ?Bermuda does have a fairly extensive ex-pat workforce. That has always been a bone of contention, but it has also probably saved the community from the negative concerns about the genetic pool.

?Bermuda is quite unique for many reasons and people keep forgetting that. We should be looking at what is right about this Island. It is dangerous to have a debate on something like this without having done the proper homework. I?m not criticising someone for raising the issue in the first place, but to have a debate we need to do the proper research.?

Not everyone views more babies as a desirable outcome for the world. In the past week Chris Rapley, director of the British Antarctic Survey, has argued the world does not have the resources to sustain its current global population of 6.5 billion people and needs to reduce the population total to around two or three billion.