Grow Up Strong -- Get Consistent Pediatric Care
Preventive healthcare is part of a healthy lifestyle, beginning with your child's first checkups.
Establishing an ongoing relationship with your pediatrician is important to ensure optimal care and help your child feel at ease about going to the doctor. It's a more relaxed visit when your child is feeling healthy than when he is feeling ill.
The overall goal of routine checkups is to monitor your child's growth and development and spot any problems that may be surfacing. These regular visits also provide an opportunity to make sure any current treatments are working effectively.
Well-child checkups can involve some or all of these items, depending on your child's age:
- Vaccinations, if needed
- Head-to-toe exam, such as checking eyes and vision, ears and hearing, nose, mouth, reflexes, muscle tone and strength, and, sometimes, urine and blood
- Measurements and growth check
- Body mass index (BMI) check
Having routine medical checkups helps instill the value of preventive medicine, which means your child is likely to continue to trust healthcare providers and receive routine exams as an adult. This habit will promote your child's overall health and help him or her prevent and manage various diseases as he or she grows older.
On the other hand, inconsistent pediatric care has been linked to delayed language development in children, as well as increased problem behaviors, hospitalizations, and injuries throughout childhood and adulthood. Without regular checkups, early indications of serious health complications, such as diabetes or asthma, also may go unnoticed.
RealAge Projection: Learning to be proactive about health issues will benefit kids indefinitely. If they keep it up in adulthood, at 50 they could look and feel closer to 38.
