Health checks for children and adolescents

In U and J check-ups, the doctor checks whether there are any indications of particular illnesses, and checks the child’s general health, and whether the child is developing normally. This way, any illnesses, disabilities or delayed development can be identified early on, and treatments and targeted support can start to be provided.

With this purpose the doctors check, for example, whether

• the child’s body is developing normally.
• certain illnesses are present.
• the child’s mental development, speech development, and social and emotional skills have developed normally, and what the relationship between child and parents is like.
• there are any particular problems or increased health risks. They also provide information about preventive measures and other help options. 
• there are any anomalies in an adolescent’s health or educational development, or if there is any behavior that might endanger their health, for example smoking, and alcohol and drug consumption.

If the doctors identify any anomalies, they advise on the way forward, and might refer the adolescent on to specialists for further diagnosis and treatment. They also advise on vaccinations and check whether all vaccinations have been given.

Guardians can use the check-ups to ask questions about the child’s development and to address any problems, for example in relation to media consumption, diet or upbringing. The doctor might mediate contact with other advisory centers.

There are precise timescales for when health checks should take place.

There is a good reason for this. From birth to teenage years, every child goes through a large number of development steps. For example, when they are of kindergarten and pre-school age, they go through important developments linked to speaking, motor skills and relationships with peers. Any anomalies in terms of development, and any illnesses, can only be successfully treated or corrected if they are identified and treated early within a particular life stage.

Parents should also keep to the normal check-up schedule even when their child has been born prematurely. Any differences in development are taken into account at these check-ups. 

Your health insurance provider will cover the costs of the 11 health checks defined by law if they are done according to schedule. Some health insurance providers also offer additional U and J check-ups as an option (U10, U11 and J2). Ask your health insurance provider about them in advance.

Dental checks are also scheduled during the child’s first 6 years, in order to identify and treat any dental, oral and jaw disorders and caries at an early stage. 

Children are entitled to 6 check-ups during their first 6 years, which focus on examining the oral cavity, and giving the parents advice on diet and oral hygiene. During these, the enamel can be hardened, and caries-free fissures and pits in the molars can be sealed.

From the age of 6, the health insurance providers pay for dental check-ups every six months. From the age of 12 these check-ups are entered in a bonus booklet, and the grants increase if teeth need to be replaced later on.

Children with a chronic illness or a disability sometimes develop differently to healthy or non-disabled children. However, the scheduled check-ups are useful because the doctor checks how the child is developing and advises on any other treatments or supportive measures. For some disabilities, there are also other adjusted criteria for normal development.

Doctors enter the results of all the U check-ups into the child examination booklet, also known as the “yellow booklet”. Parents are given this after the child is born. 

The examination results entered into it is confidential information that is subject to specific data protection. Nobody, including any institution, such as a kindergarten, school or local authority, is permitted to look at the booklet if the parents do not give their consent.

In the new booklets that have been issued since 2017, there is a fold-out “attendance card” on which parents can confirm that they have attended the check-up.

Every child and adolescent has a legal entitlement to the 11 check-ups specified by law, the U1 to U9 and J1. They are paid for by all of the health insurance providers, both statutory and private. However, the scheduled check-ups are only obligatory in some federal states.

In most federal states there is an obligation to issue invitations and to report. The children’s doctors report the fact that the check-up has been attended to the authorities. If no report is received, parents are asked to get in touch.

You can get more information about the check-ups from your child’s doctor and your health insurance provider.

Each child’s check-up schedule can be calculated at kindergesundheit-info.de – a Federal Center for Health Education (Bundeszentrale für gesundheitliche Aufklärung) website.