ST. JOHN'S, Antigua - One hundred and fifty students from the All Saints Secondary School recently graduated from the Medical Benefits Scheme School Outreach Programme which seeks to educate children and their families on the value of healthy nutrition and physical activity in disease prevention and control. The School Outreach Programme (SOP) also provides opportunities for students to learn and participate in meal planning, cooking and physical exercises; empowering them to make better choices towards living healthy lives. The Medical Benefits Scheme (MBS) is pleased with the positive response of students and parents within the All Saints community to the programme and views it as a reflection of the community's understanding that the nation's children may be at risk of developing diseases or conditions such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol, if healthy lifestyles are not adopted.

At the end of this school term, MBS would have completed the School Outreach Programme in four additional schools, namely; Freeman's Village Primary School, Pares Primary School, Pares Secondary School and Parham Primary School. The Medical Benefits Scheme team engaged those four schools in January this year by collecting socio-economic and biometric data and at the beginning of June started presenting lectures on nutrition to students.

The Medical Benefits Scheme School Outreach Programme which commenced in 2006 will be introduced to additional schools in September this year.