30 May, 2011

Fishing for Yellow Belly in the Burnett River, cheering for the local footy team, The Eagles, and lots of fresh fruit and vegetables are the ways students at Eidsvold State School keep healthy.

The whole school has just participated in a Thumbs Up! school workshop with The Jimmy Little Foundation and created a song to help them remember the importance of good tucker for a long life.

Representing diabetes sufferer and legendary entertainer Dr Jimmy Little AO, Program Manager and Wiradjuri woman Ebony Williams said with around half the population of Eidsvold suffering some form of chronic disease the Thumbs Up! message is really important.

“Both the primary and secondary workshops were fantastic,” she said.

“The students really got involved and added to their knowledge about how good tucker leads to a long life – the message Uncle Jimmy shares with everyone.

“The whole community got behind the program and there were health checks for students and a huge health expo held to compliment the program – it was a real case of a community working together to promote healthy lifestyles.”

Miss Williams said Indigenous hip hop pioneer and new Thumbs Up! Workshop Facilitator Mark “Munkimuk” Ross was one of the stars from the program with children chanting “funky munki” on the way home from school.

“Uncle Jimmy’s messages of the importance of drinking lots of water and fruit and won’t be forgotten quickly – we made quite an impression!”

Local GP Dr Brad Murphy, also known as the Rock Doc said the North Burnett Queensland community is fairly generic statistically.

“Eidsvold would be relatively represented by the national statistics so we aren’t better or worse; the big issue is people actually accessing what’s available,” Dr Murphy said.

“The good news is, I would hazard to say we are one of the best serviced country towns in Australia.”

The health expo saw the largest gathering of health professionals ever seen in Eidsvold with diabetes checks, height and weight measurements as well as information about a wide variety of services available.

Both the primary and secondary school students performed parts of their Good Tucker – Healthy Life songs for the community, accompanied by Miss Williams, Munkimuk and singer Chris E Thomas.

The local Foodworks store managed by Peter and Vicki Webster are keeping the message in people’s minds with Uncle Jimmy’s Thumbs Up! signage in-store to encourage shoppers to purchase fresh fruit, vegetables and water.

The Thumbs Up! team plans to return to Eidsvold next year.