New Zealand personalities step it up for Diabetes – and you can too

From a very young age, I remember my grandmother not being able to enjoy some of my birthday cake. No matter how much I wanted her to try some of my hand-picked chocolate on chocolate on chocolate deliciousness, she and my great-aunts had a disease that didn't let them eat sugar – which, for my four-year-old self, was the equivalent of a life without happiness.

Now that I'm older but still just as much of a sweet tooth, I am acutely aware of the fact that my mother, my sister and I are most likely going to be diagnosed with Diabetes in some point of our lives. And it is going to affect much more than how much birthday cake we can or cannot eat.

So as someone who has many loved ones that live with Diabetes, the NZ MoveMeant Challenge is close to my heart. The annual challenge aims to raise awareness about Diabetes and how much physical activity can help prevent and manage it. And a few familiar faces have joined the campaign, such as Motivate Me NZ's Makaia Carr and fitspo influencer Rachel Grunwell.

The challenge is all about doing little things that can improve your quality of life, such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator, walking fifteen minutes instead of taking the bus or going a bit further to try new lunch spots around your neighbourhood. From the 13th to the 26th of May, participants will be seen sporting Fitbit devices and trying to out-step each other.

According to Diabetes NZ, 250,000 are affected by the disease and one in four Kiwis are thought to have prediabetes. And if you need more motivation than these statistics, Fitbit will be giving prizes to those who participate and post with the #FitbitMoveMeant hashtag on social media.

Learn more about the challenge here.