Why is regular health screening of children important?

Posted By Suborna Fermi Posted on May 17, 2023

Health is the most valuable concern in our life. Coming to a child's health, as they are so energetic all the time, we often fail to understand the importance of child’s health screening. Childhood is the one time when they grow faster and develop the most.

There are multiple diseases that show minimal symptoms, or do not show any symptoms. Most children cannot express their uncomfortness, and we also fail to notice the symptoms. This is why it is our responsibility to take consciousness. No matter how energetic your child looks from the outside, you must consider a regular health checkup.

Why is a children's health checkup essential?

We all know that regular health checkups have become an extreme necessity these days, no matter whether it is for adults or children. Regular health checkups for children will help you to understand your child’s normal development, keep you updated for the vaccines schedules, and detect any abnormalities.

Why should you go for regular checkups?

Regular check ups will help to detect the diseases, infections and abnormalities for the early stage. And nothing can be better than early detection of a disease, because early detection will help the doctors to treat the disease at the right time. Here are few benefits of regular health screenings:

• Early screening: As mentioned earlier, child health checkup packages are the ideal option if you want to prevent severe health complications. Regular health checkup will detect the malady in its early phase, so that your doctor can take the proper treatment at the early time.
• Keeps the track of growth and development: As childhood is the important stage of life, where we grow and develop the most. This is why it is important to keep a proper track of the growth and development. In a regular checkup your doctor will check how much your child has grown and developed since the last checkup.
• Prevention of diseases: Most of the immunization for diseases is done at the childhood stage. Also at this stage, a lot of problems can be detected, such as hearing problems, eyes problems, sinus issues, speech complications, learning disorders, lead poisoning and psychological issues.

What are the signs of hearing issues in children?

• Lack of reaction or response to calls and noises
• Unusual speech development
• Speech that sounds quite abnormal

What are the signs of vision problems in children?

• Frequent headache
• Eyeballs turning either inwards or outwards
• Squint eyes
• Fails to copy letters from the blackboard in school because of blurry vision

What screenings are included in a child’s health checkup?

• Development screening
• Immunization
• Hearing screening
• Vision screening
• Anemia screening
• Urinalysis
• Lead poisoning
• Health education

So these are the basic head to toe screenings that are included in a child's health screening.

What can you expect from a Child’s health checkup?

• The doctor will do a physical examination of your child.
• Your child will get the vaccines or immunizations to prevent infection and diseases.
• Your child’s development and growth will be analyzed.
• Your child’s mental development will also be monitored.
• The doctor will ask you about your child’s social skills, diet, and physical activities.

And at last you can ask your queries or questions regarding your child’s health to the doctor. If you notice anything about your child that worries you, it is crucial that you ask the doctors.

Newborn health checkup:

Your doctor will do a complete health check quickly after the baby is born. They will check the baby's normal reflexes, crucial signs and hip stability to understand the baby is healthy. The doctors will also check:

• Hearing screening: The doctors will check your baby’s hearing ability. OAE and ABR are the two types of tests that the doctors will conduct.
• Metabolic screening: The doctor will collect a small sample of blood from the baby’s heel for the metabolic screening, which will help to detect sickle cell disease and inherited diseases.
• Immunization: Vaccines for hepatitis B are given to the baby right after the birth.
• Neonatal screening: Neonatal screening is a crucial test which will help to detect any serious health disorder of the newborn.

Health checkup for 4 weeks old:

In this health checkup, the doctor will check both the baby and mother. The doctor will ask you a few things about how the baby is developing, feeding and how you are taking care of your baby. They will also ask you about the baby’s birth weight, and immunization.

Health checkup for 8 weeks old:

In this health checkup, the doctor will analyze both the baby and mother. Your doctor will ask you about the growth, development and sleeping schedule. You can discuss with the doctor whether you can move towards giving solid foods, crawling, and social development of your child. The doctor will also give the scheduled immunization.

Health checkup or 18 weeks old:

In this checkup the doctor will ask you about your baby’s growth and whether the baby is moving, talking, walking, learning, and understanding what others are saying.

Health checkup 2 to 3 years old:

In this checkup, the doctor will check your baby’s usual growth, vision, and hearing. Weight and height will be measured and will be compared to the general growth rate. The doctor will also ask about the baby’s responses to the participation in some activities including drawing.

Health checkup for 4 to 5 years old:

The yearly health checkup for 4 to 5 years will include height, weight, hearing and vision check. The doctor also might check whether the child can hold or grip a pencil. Apart from that, they will check your child’s blood pressure, heart rate and will give immunization (if required).

Health checkup for 6 to 12 years old:

In the annual health checkup, your child’s height, weight, blood pressure, BMI, heart rate and vision will be examined. The doctor will also check your child’s spinal development, and may prescribe a diagnostic test for tuberculosis.

Make sure to carry your child’s health records or prescriptions in every health checkup. This will help the doctors to understand the rate of your child’s development and growth. Newborns and children need frequent health checkups as compared to teenagers. Also, ask your doctor about when you should come for the next visit. However, the regularity of health checkups depends on the health condition of your child.