momentum behind this weekend's Health and Fitness extravaganza.

From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, September 7, in the Clocktower Mall in Dockyard, people can enjoy eating vegetarian dishes, and learn what resources are available locally to maintain a vegetarian lifestyle. The public can also have their blood sugar level, blood pressure and cholesterol tested. Assistant president of the Vegetarian Society Hilary Evans said the idea of the Health and Fitness extravaganza is to bring together all aspects of vegetarianism and health in Bermuda.

"We want to encourage people to live a healthy way of life and we want to show them how to do that in Bermuda, and what is available in terms of resources,'' Ms Evans said.

She added: "We try to bring together all the businesses such as health food stores, restaurants, and health professionals so they can demonstrate what they do, to give people an idea of what is available.'' President of the society, Pamela Greyson, said the extravaganza will be booth-style so each group will have a booth and some will be offering hands-on demonstrations.

"There will be health foods on sale and natural food products that are environmentally friendly,'' she said. Ms Evans added that there is also a holistic side of the extravaganza and that focuses on dealing with stress as part of a healthy way of living. We will also have blood sugar, cholesterol, and blood pressure monitoring and health consultations. And we will also do something on the ecological side of this to show people that we need to look at the environment as part of a healthy way of living and the need to preserve natural resources.'' Mrs. Greyson also said: "We will also have a kiddie corner where the kids can learn first hand basic health principles and do little activities on how to prepare healthy snacks.'' On this particular extravaganza she added: "It is important because of the numerous diseases that we see that are so prevalent in Bermuda such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer all of which can be held in check through a balanced vegetarian diet and other health principles like exercise and water.

"The main focus of the society is education and that is the main thrust in everything we do.'' She added that the extravaganza is about teaching that vegetarianism is a lifestyle change.

"We have worked with local restaurants and other local establishments trying to get them to include vegetarian dishes on their menu.''