00:00At 200 schools across Queensland, a quiet revolution is growing.
00:22Children are getting their hands dirty to learn about healthy food.
00:26It's a worm, it's a worm house.
00:30The state-funded Pick of the Crop program is getting them eating more fruit and veggies.
00:35It's the most important thing that we can possibly do to set them up well is to ensure
00:41that they have a healthy weight so that they can get stuck into life without any sort of
00:47barriers.
00:49The stakes are high, with a sobering number of Queensland children now considered overweight
00:55or obese.
00:56It's one in three kids, or just about one in three, so it's actually getting worse.
01:02At Marsden State School, the program is having an impact, shaping what's offered in the tuck
01:08shop and influencing decisions made at home.
01:12And the way children come to school with their lunch boxes better packed, with better choices
01:17in foods and more green choices.
01:20It's also a place of respite.
01:22You can just come here and it's nice and calm.
01:24I can learn how to grow them if I want to later on in my life.
01:30Australia has one of the highest rates of childhood obesity in the world.
01:35A Queensland child born this decade could lose up to five years from their life expectancy
01:40if obesity rates aren't reversed.
01:42Jack Petrou has type 2 diabetes.
01:45Alright, ready, set, go.
01:50The father of three watched his own dad lose toes because of the so-called lifestyle disease.
01:59He's determined to break the cycle, with the help of the Logan Healthy Living Clinic.
02:04That's really good.
02:05How are you feeling?
02:06After a free eight-week course focused on exercise and healthy eating, the 41-year-old
02:12has improved on every measure.
02:15At this point, you're going to be doing really, really well and coming off those medication
02:19Well, it's a goal, right?
02:21Yeah, well done.
02:23Five years ago, the Labor government established the agency running both of these programs
02:28with strong bipartisan support from the LNP.
02:32Whoever takes the helm of a health system under growing pressure will need to focus
02:37on preventing illness in the first place.
02:40For me, the most important thing is to set up a health system based on this, based on health.
02:49For more information, visit www.fema.gov
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