All primary school-aged children would attend compulsory exercise sessions -- at least two nights a week.

The mandatory fitness sessions are the brainchild of Wannon MP David Hawker who said healthy lifestyles needed to be learnt at an early age.

The plan won support from local fitness instructors who said it would be "a step in the right direction".

Mr Hawker's plan involved making the Active After School Communities program mandatory.

The Federal Government initiative, introduced three years ago, encourages children to be active through supervised sports such as cricket, football and bowls.

The sessions run at least twice a week from 3pm to 5.30pm. Mr Hawker said most children attended the program. "But the thing is not everyone is involved and they should be," he said. "It should be compulsory. It is an excellent program which encourages children to be active."

Mr Hawker's comments came after a leading Queensland health professional told a Federal Parliamentary inquiry into obesity that Medicare should pay for weightloss programs like Weightwatchers.

Dr Linda Selvey, who leads the Queensland Government's population health branch, said obesity was a "chronic condition" and its treatment should be covered by the national health system.