Health Minister Nelson Bascome is encouraging fellow MPs to eat healthier and to lead the Island in the fitness challenge to combat diabetes.

Mr. Bascome presented a motion to classify diabetes as a "major threat to public health" in Bermuda in the House of Assembly yesterday.

As part of this continued awareness brought to the disease, the Minister indicated that he had already given the House clerk a list of healthy foods that could be served.

He said: "I gave a list to the clerk with some of the healthy foods. I am going to encourage these health foods and soon you will get used to them and you will enjoy them.

"We all need to get together. It would be great if people saw us exercising."

He also pointed to efforts the Government had made through Well Bermuda — a partnership between various organisations to tackle a national health promotion strategy — such as Wellness Wednesday's in the Island's schools.

Mr. Bascome stressed the importance of a united effort to stem the growth of diabetes on the Island calling for both sides of the house to come together to fight it.

He said: "In Bermuda we have 8,000 persons living with diabetes and another 8,000 at risk of developing it.

"It is of great concern that I stand here to seek the support of my colleagues, to align public and private sector support to combat diabetes. With this Motion I ask you to take note of diabetes as a major threat to public health in Bermuda."

Shadow Health Minister Louise Jackson stood up and offered the opposition's support on this initiative and even thanked the Government for removing the duty tariffs on the diabetes medication.

She said: "It's a crisis and the UBP is standing ready to join hands in the fight for this epidemic. This health policy should emphasise two things — early diagnosis and education.

"Do you know there are 50 boys that are here that are pre-diabetic, some weighing 250 pounds? Those children if not treated if they hadn't been early diagnosis would probably be dead before they are 40 years old.

"I want to thank Government for giving duty free allowance on diabetes medication and that's of course much appreciated."

However, Mrs. Jackson raised concern about the amount of room dedicated to the diabetes centre in new plan for the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

She said that the Asthma Centre, which has one nurse, will get 3,800 ft, while the Diabetes area is only allocated 3,390 ft and has about five staff.

PLP MP Randy Horton, who said he was a physical education teacher, wanted to ensure that children were taught not only to exercise more, but why they should exercise more.

And Shadow Education Minister Grant Gibbons raised concerns about late diagnosis of diabetes, which led to more costly care for the person.

While Premier Ewart Brown called on his experience as a doctor to urge the public to take responsibility for their health.

"It is my opinion that the most serious threat to quality of life in Bermuda in not the economy. It's not the media. It's diabetes. The statistics have been made clear through all the studies," he said.

"Self care, self responsibility is most important and there's no illness that those two could not be better administered than in diabetes."

PLP backbencher Neletha Butterfield said she was a Type Two diabetes sufferer herself and thanked the efforts of groups such as Bermuda Diabetes Association, while the UBP's Donte Hunt said support needed to be given to families of people with diabetes.

Former Health Minister Michael Scott suggested red stop lights could be placed on unhealthy foods in supermarkets or even that they could be removed from the shelves altogether.