Health Minister Jonathan Coleman says thousands upon thousands of new entrant school students have benefitted from the B4 School Checks.

According to figures provided by Jonathan, the Ministry of Health is currently two per cent over its target of 83 per cent of children checked by the end of May and is also on track to meet the end of financial year target of 90 per cent.

The Ministry of Health is on track to meet its end of financial year target of 90 per cent of children checked under the B4 School Check programme. File Photo.

The B4 School Check is the final Well Child Tamariki Ora check and is a comprehensive needs assessment and screening for children turning four. They also provide health education opportunities for parents or caregivers.

'B4 School Checks help to ensure children get the best start at school by identifying and addressing any health or developmental problems at an early stage,” says Jonathan.

'We're also seeing continued progress in reaching out to families in high deprivation areas where services have been putting in additional effort. As of the end of May, we are one per cent over the 83 per cent target for high deprivation children.”

According to Ministry data, more than 58,000 pre-schoolers received a B4 School Check in 2015, which equates to 92 per cent of all eligible four-year-olds.

One of the commonest findings in the check are on vision and hearing. In the six months to June 8 of this year, more than 1300 children (5 per cent) were identified with a possible hearing loss and referred for treatment or assessment.

As part of the Childhood Obesity Plan, the new Raising Healthy Kids target aims to have 95 per cent of children identified as obese in the B4 School Check offered a referral for clinical assessment and family based nutrition, activity and lifestyle interventions by December 2017.