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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-03-15 Daily Xml
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SCHOOLCHILDREN, HEALTH CHECKS

The Hon. R.B. SUCH (Fisher) (12:43): I move:

That this house urges the state government to fully commit to preventative health and wellbeing measures by introducing comprehensive health checks for schoolchildren in South Australia.

Members would know this has been a bit of a hobbyhorse of mine for a while, and I will give some real-world examples of why I think this proposal is needed. You hear a lot of talk about what is happening to our population health-wise, and so on, and, once again, it relates back to what happens in childhood and the pattern of behaviour and what is being experienced by children, and can have long-term consequences for them—things like scoliosis (which affects the spine), juvenile hernias, and a real-world example: I know someone who cannot have children because his testes did not descend. That would have been picked up by a medical examination at school, and it is a pretty heavy price to pay because it was not detected when they were a child. Also, dental issues—children whose teeth are badly affected, even more so today because a lot of children do not drink fluoridated water—issues with obesity, eyesight, and general growth factors.

Within my own family, one of my lads was born totally deaf in one ear and partly deaf in the other. Neither I nor his nurse mother (my first wife) picked that up; it was picked up with a medical check at school, because he is very good at lip-reading and a fairly sharp character in terms of reading people's intentions and so on. It was not picked up by his parents or anyone else other than through a medical check at school.

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: How old was he?

The Hon. R.B. SUCH: He was six at the time. I can tell you that having a child who has a deafness issue is quite hair-raising when it comes to things like crossing the road and so on.

They are just a few examples. I know the chap who cannot have children, and I know many other cases where those sorts of things would have been picked up if there had been a screening program. The argument that is often dished up is, 'Look, people can go to their doctor.' The reality is that some do, but some do not do so at the right time. Sometimes, it can be too late, and things cannot be corrected as easily later in life. Children who have problems with eyesight, hearing, etc., which often manifest themselves in poor behaviour at school should be picked up, and would be by having suitably trained medical people assessing children in school.

When I was in primary school, which was a long time ago (shortly after Adam arrived on earth, I think), we had medical checks. I think nowadays it could be done in a slightly more discreet way, with more attention to privacy, but we had to line up in our jocks and have our hearts, lungs, and all those sorts of things checked out.

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: I don't think we need the details, Bob.

The Hon. R.B. SUCH: Sorry?

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: I don't think we need the details.

The Hon. R.B. SUCH: No, the minister is a bit coy about the details; he is too young to have experienced the cough technique, I guess. But, if you can save someone's life, or at least highlight some medical issue that can be addressed, surely that is a good thing to do. Singapore—not everyone else in the world is stupid; sometimes we seem to think we know all the answers—and lot of other countries, including Scandinavian countries, do this, and then they address the issues so that they are dealt with at the appropriate time.

If we are not careful in this country, the cost of treating people in hospital will overwhelm the budget of most governments, because we have allowed—I guess through our indulgence and the availability of a comfortable lifestyle—our lifestyle to impact on our health to the point where the cost of treating some of these medical conditions is going to become absolutely horrendous. I am sure the Minister for Health will not argue with the point that we are already seeing this happen. It is not simply prolonging life through medication, it is the fact that our lifestyle now—lack of exercise, eating too much, and all those things—is impacting on our health and individual future, as expressed in terms of health and wellbeing.

We need to do more than just check out children physically. There are some good programs, such as the OPAL program and some others, but if a medical professional examining a child at school can see that the child is on their way to becoming obese or has some other problem, that can then be addressed in a way that does not offend the child's dignity. They can talk to the parents as a follow-up.

The other thing that needs to happen is that physical exercise and activity needs to be integrated throughout the school day, not just sport on the weekend or at 3 o'clock on a Wednesday afternoon. It is not just for boys but for girls as well; it needs to be integrated into the curriculum. By the end of the day children should not be physically exhausted but should have been challenged in terms of physical activity.

Look at the number of children who are driven to school now because parents are worried about molesters. I can tell members that the risk of being molested is a lot less than the risk of being hurt in a car. When you see the kamikaze drivers around schools in the mornings and afternoons, there is a greater risk of being hurt by your parents driving you to school than there is by walking to school. That is not to say that you should not have an oversight of children walking to and from school, but there are some situations where children are literally being driven a few hundred metres to school.

Some parents want the reassurance that their child is at school safe and sound, but we have now got to the point where we are becoming more like the United States where they do not walk, or do not want to walk, anywhere. That is being reflected in the health of our children—or the lack of.

I am not saying that this is the only thing to do, but we need integrated physical activity. I was a teacher many years ago and I had one character, Freddie (I will not say his full name), who used to blow a fuse every now and again. I would get him to run around the oval until he calmed down and he would be fine. Then the deputy principal said, 'No, you're not allowed to do that anymore,' and within a month or two Freddie was expelled from the school and went on to be continually expelled from schools.

That is a little digression, but it illustrates the point that we need a total health package, and I think we are moving that way in our health system. The federal government has set up a preventive—

Mrs GERAGHTY: Point of order. No offence to the member, but I think his time ran out some time ago.

The SPEAKER: I do point out to the member for Torrens that there is no time limit on his speech. However, member for Fisher, are you almost finished?

Mrs GERAGHTY: There is a time limit.

The SPEAKER: There was a time limit? I'm sorry; 15 minutes.

The Hon. R.B. SUCH: I am just about to wind up.

The SPEAKER: Member for Fisher, I know that you will be very concise in finishing what you have to say.

The Hon. R.B. SUCH: I make the point that it is not the only thing that needs to be done but it is an important thing, and I urge the government, both the Minister for Education and the Minister for Health, to commit themselves to a program like this and follow the lead of Singapore and other countries.

Mr PEGLER (Mount Gambier) (12:53): I certainly support this motion. I think it is extremely important for our less fortunate and less well-educated families that the health of their children is checked out at our schools. I think that schools are the proper place for it in that the vast majority of our children do go to school, and it is the place to pick them all up. By doing these health checks right throughout our schools, we will be able to pick up a lot of children who do have health problems that are not being addressed. This will often save our society a lot of money in the long run in the aspect that we have picked up those children early and are able to fix them early. I certainly support this motion, because I think it is a great initiative, particularly for those families that are less fortunate than others.

Debate adjourned on motion of Mrs Geraghty.

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