Global Diabetes Walk 2008 Children at the Beacon House School in Faisalabad, Pakistan. The Global Diabetes Walk 2008 is now over and we are happy to announce a new record of 282,375 people having joined. We extend our thanks to walkers in every corner of the world for your impressive support in setting a new record and making the 2008 Walk the biggest ever in the history of the World Diabetes Foundation.  Hundreds of campaigns, activities, screenings, lectures, meetings and more were organised on World Diabetes Day to help raise awareness about diabetes. We bring three snapshots from the worldwide activities and encourage you to visit the photo section to see more. Snapshot 1: Pakistan In the Pakistani town Faisalabad, the All Pakistan Diabetes and Endocrine Society mobilised 1,300 students from the Kohinoor Grammar School and Beacon House School for the Walk.  Workshops and lectures about regular exercise and junk food are held regularly at the schools, so the students were already aware and relatively educated. The children have started to make pod casts on diabetes and they have developed a blog “The Digital Mine” where they share their ideas and knowledge about diabetes. Snapshot 2: Lebanon In Lebanon, the Walk was organised around the historic Harissa Church which was later venue for lectures on endocrinology and nutrition. Organising the Walk inspired nutritionist and Walk coordinator, Samia Khoury, to do more: “Childhood obesity is on the rise in Lebanon, and schools and parents seem unaware. There is no culture of eating healthily here. But at least all the publicity around the World Diabetes Day made people understand the importance of diabetes and how easy it is to prevent with relatively simple measures. It is not so difficult to avoid,” she says.   Snapshot 3: Cuba In the Cuban town Ciego de Avila, more than 500 people walked through the main streets of the town, passing a variety of activities on the way. In the Central Park a group of elderly people did taichi to show their wellbeing. Educational talks were held, blood glucose tests offered and flyers distributed. Three-year-old Alejandra Estéfani, who is the youngest child with diabetes in the province, led the walk with her blue dress. As one local journalist wrote, “Cuba woke up painted in blue. And it was not the elves that had been doing tricks all night. It was hope in the form of hands, feet and banners walking through the streets to commemorate the World Diabetes Day.”    The World Diabetes Day has been celebrated since 1991; the Global Diabetes Walk since 2004. From 68,582 participants in the first Walk in 2004 to more than 280,000 walkers in 2008, the Walk has grown to become an integral part of the globally celebrated World Diabetes Day.   View the film - No Child should Die of Diabetes Diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases of childhood. It can strike children at any age, including pre-school children and even toddlers (view film).