Preschoolers to be tested

A comprehensive medical check-up program to ensure children can hear their teacher and see the blackboard, before they start school, will begin from Tuesday.

Four-year-olds will have their sight, hearing, teeth and developmental abilities measured by a GP, practice nurse or child health nurse in a $25 million federal scheme attempting to pick up learning difficulties and behaviour problems early.

Height and weight will also be measured as part of the Government's promise to tackle rocketing rates of obesity. If a child's body mass index is too high, parents will be encouraged to refer them for further medical help.

Tests will be conducted when children get their immunisations. The Government hopes that, by the beginning of the next school year, all children entering kindergarten - about 225,000 - will have been checked. Tests are not mandatory.

Health Minister Nicola Roxon said the Healthy Kids Check would help parents to instil healthy habits such as exercise, proper nutrition and good behaviour in their children.

Parents will be given a set of guidelines, called Get Set 4 Life, to get a better sense of what they should normally expect from a four-year-old in areas including speech and language, oral health and hygiene.

"Ultimately, these things are up to parents but we know parents are under a lot of pressure and are busy, and we need to do what we can to help them," Ms Roxon said.

Parents can claim Medicare rebates of $45 for GP visits. Children can also be checked in community-based programs.

State Labor MP and pediatrician Andrew McDonald said studies showed the earlier a child's unhealthy weight was tackled the more likely he or she was to avoid a lifelong struggle with obesity.

"It will also help if GPs suggest to parents they don't send their kids to school too early, especially parents from lower socio-economic groups who tend to send their boys before they are ready."

Four-year-old Nash Hughes will be one of the first children to undergo the check. Mother Julie, from Charlestown, near Newcastle, said it was a good idea to link the examinations with the vaccination schedule. "If it's not invasive I have no problem with it," she said.

Many children Nash's age were already overweight or obese but she said families were under time and financial pressures that could hinder their ability to provide fresh fruit and vegetables every day.