Early promotion of optimal child growth in general practice

Why Australia needs Medicare-funded preventive checks in early childhood – a brief summary

Wen, L. M., House, E. T., Phongsavan, P., Dutch, D., Laws, R., Simone, L., Denney-Wilson, E., & Baur, L. A. (2026). It’s time to invest in our future: include early promotion of optimal child growth as part of general practice funding schemes. Public Health Research & Practice, 36(2), PU25077.

Summary

Early childhood is a critical window for promoting optimal growth and establishing lifelong health behaviours. General practice plays a central role in supporting families during this period, yet systemic barriers limit the ability of GPs to deliver preventive care. This paper urgently calls for the introduction of Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) items to fund universal, staged child health promotion checks aligned with immunisation visits. Such a reform would make preventive care more accessible, affordable, and consistent for all Australian children aged 0-5 years.

What was this paper about?

To outline why early childhood health promotion should be embedded within routine general practice and to propose a practical, scalable solution: publicly funded MBS items for universal child growth and health behaviour checks from birth to age five.

Why this matters?

Only a small proportion of Australian children meet recommended guidelines for diet, physical activity, and sedentary behaviour. For example,

• Just 28% of 2–3-year-olds consume enough fruits and vegetables
• Only 17% of 2–5-year-olds meet movement and sedentary behaviour recommendations.

General practice is one of the most trusted and universal touchpoints for families, yet preventive care is often constrained by limited time, funding, and resources. The absence of dedicated MBS items means preventive checks are inconsistently delivered and may be unaffordable for some families.

What did the paper propose?

The authors recommend introducing staged, universal MBS-funded child health promotion checks aligned with existing childhood immunisation visits.

These checks would focus on:

• Monitoring healthy growth
• Supporting families with nutrition, physical activity, sleep, and sedentary behaviour
• Identifying early risks and providing timely guidance
• Ensuring equitable access to preventive care across Australia

This approach would leverage existing GP infrastructure while reducing financial barriers for families.

What does this mean for policy and practice?

Implementing MBS-funded preventive child health checks would:

• Strengthen Australia’s primary care system by embedding prevention early
• Improve equity by ensuring all families can access high-quality preventive care
• Support GPs to deliver consistent, evidence-based guidance
• Contribute to national and global goals for reducing childhood overweight and improving long-term health outcomes

The full paper is available here: https://doi.org/10.1071/PU25077