 Did you know that about one in every two people experience a mental health illness in their lifetime? That's half, half of us, and half of those people that mental health illness is already apparent by the time that child reaches 14 years of age. At the Telethon Institute of Child Health Research Professor Zubrik and his team conducted the largest ever Australian based study of child mental health assessing children aged between 14 and 17 and that they found that the incidence of mental health was actually really alarming. One in every seven children has a diagnosable mental health illness suffering in the year before the survey was conducted. One in seven, that's four children in every classroom in Australia. The scale of the problem is quite massive and Professor Zubrik talks about mental health and our mental health being an enabler to live a productive and successful and a fulfilling life. So how do we change this profile? We know that exercise is medicine for our body and we're learning more and more about exercise as medicine for our mental health as well. We know that being physically active protects against mental health problems. We know that it decreases depression, signs of depression in older adults. We also know that it reduces the symptoms of depression in women who are suffering from postnatal depression. Interestingly exercise can be just as effective as oral medications for mild and moderate anxiety and depression. These symptoms and these effects are all apparent in the adult population. What's happening in children? Because we know that most children are diagnosable by the age of 14. Well we know that exercise and physical activity can improve self-esteem and cognitive function in young people. Most of this data though relates to children who are experiencing mild to moderate symptoms. What happens to the children who have progressed to acute psychiatric illnesses? Two years ago our team in pediatric exercise science in sports science were asked to devise an exercise program that could be instituted in acute care. This is the first time that this has ever been done in Australia and we're working with the team from Perth Children's Hospital and co-investigators looking at how we can best institute exercise in acute care. Children suffering from acute psychosis and depression. The data that we're collecting is going to reshape how we think about clinical care of children and young people with mental health conditions. Hopefully enabling a more positive future for them.