Health Screening Milestones for School-Aged Children
Health professionals use several methods to identify health problems among children. The screenings focus on common childhood complications such as autism, developmental delays, heart defects, and metabolic disorders. If these conditions are not detected early enough, children may encounter several health troubles when they grow up.
Screenings begin during the infant stage, where a pediatrician conducts heart screenings on a specified date. Consequently, you must make an appointment with a pediatrician. Most monthly screening should continue until the child turns five years.
Common Childhood Health Screenings
Children and teenagers should undergo regular medical check-ups.
Obesity: First, the health screenings will look for signs of obesity. The doctor will measure the weight and height of your child. They will then use these measurements to determine the BMI. Obesity is a key indicator of other underlying chronic conditions, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart diseases. Obesity screening should occur at least once every 12 months.
High Blood Pressure: High blood pressure is also common among children and teenagers. If screenings discover the presence of high blood pressure, this is an indication of future health issues such as diabetes. Consequently, your child should undergo high blood pressure screening annually.
Hearing: It’s also a good idea to conduct regular hearing screenings. Detecting hearing problems early on can help teachers, parents, and friends to help your child. Fortunately, hearing difficulties can also be treated with hearing aids. Generally, if nothing wrong has been discovered, you should start the screening at the age of five and stop it at the age of 10.
Vision: Hearing screenings usually happen together with vision screenings. Children with abnormal visual acuity can’t see books, computers, and whiteboards without special equipment. Therefore, vision screenings should be conducted from an early age. As soon as your child turns five, take them for a vision screening. This should be repeated every year until they reach ten years old. From then, vision screening should happen once every five years.
Cholesterol: Most screenings concentrate on your cardiovascular health. As a result, high cholesterol screenings will also be part of the screening milestones. Generally, the screening should be done once when the child is between eight and 12 years old. The doctors may advise you to introduce a balanced diet. Several home equipment, such as a home generator, may come in handy when trying to create a conducive environment for your child.
Dental: Your child will undergo several dental changes before they turn the age of 10. However, this does not mean that you shouldn’t take them to regular dental health check-ups. The dentists will look for missing teeth and cavities. These are the things that can make sleep or smiling a difficult task for your child. Fortunately, dental health screenings can be done once, especially if the child is between five and ten years old. Doctors usually use X-rays if they discover some problems with your child’s teeth.
Depression: Even young children can suffer from regular bouts of depression. If left untreated or undetected, children can have thoughts of suicide or even have sleeping issues. Consequently, depression checks should start as soon as your child reaches 11 years old.
STI: Finally, any comprehensive health check-ups should and with STI screenings. Urine and blood samples will be taken to the lab, where they’ll be tested for HIV and HPV. If these STIs are not treated early enough, they can lead to mental and genital conditions.
School Screenings
Not every health professional has the licensing and experience to conduct childhood health screenings. Generally, doctors and their physician assistants are at liberty to offer health screening services. Some states hire doctors to conduct the screenings at school. As a parent, you should know the type of screenings conducted on your child.
School screenings usually look for things such as vision and hearing complications; this is the most common school screening. It is meant to detect if your child is having problems seeing or hearing teachers and other students. If a problem is detected, it can be treated quickly.
Similarly, you don’t have to wait for a medical doctor to notice some problems. If you notice anything unusual in your child, you need to contact a medical doctor immediately. Then, you should book a screening either at the school or the nearest health care provider. For instance, children with vision and hearing problems will have problems picking out letters on the computer or a book. They will also be squinting when they want to look at things that are far away.
Conclusion
It’s your responsibility as a parent to take care of your child. It would be best if you don’t wait for a disease to strike before taking your child to see the doctor. Pre-empting many of these problems before they occur is a good thing. Consequently, you should start scheduling regular health screenings.
- March 8, 2021
- 2:52 am
- Uncategorized
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