Kids Health Watch is brought to you by our friends and Children’s Medical Group
Why are check-ups so important? They are an opportunity for your pediatrician to catch up with all your child’s health issues. It’s also a great time to make sure your child is on track to excel in the next year as well. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends an annual check-up for all children starting at 3 years of age, and especially through elementary, middle, and high school ages.
When your child is younger, the check-ups are important for keeping your vaccines up to date, and to keep a close eye on developmental milestones. As your child ages, it’s good to have an annual check-up so that he or she can have a full physical exam, get a full set of vital signs when they are not ill, check his or her vision and hearing, and be assessed on the growth chart.
The growth chart is arguably the most important part of an annual check-up. The next time you’re in for your check-up, ask your pediatrician to see your child’s growth chart. It is an important indicator of your child’s overall well-being, and is a great tool for your pediatrician to make sure that nutrition, hormones, and brain are all healthy and working well together.
It’s also a good time to get all your questions answered that perhaps didn’t necessitate a dedicated doctor’s appointment in the previous year. And if it is something that seems to you to be fairly minor, but actually might need more time to explore, we can help you set up an appointment for that, or refer you to a specialist if needed.
As puberty begins, there are a lot of changes in the body that need to be tracked to make sure all the hormones are working properly.
And then as we enter the teenage years, it’s good for all of the above reasons, but also overall emotional wellbeing. It’s no secret that our children have been exposed to additional stressors over the last few years. We have seen a dramatic increase in depression and anxiety in our children, and it’s a good idea to get out in front of those issues early.
Your medical “ home base” (a steady primary care pediatrician) is incredibly important for the overall wellbeing of a person. It’s been shown that a medical home cultivates healthy habits, is more effective at providing care, and is more cost-effective for your family in the long run – and this is why establishing, and continuing care with your pediatrician is important.
Dr. Savannah Browning grew up in Fayette, AL. She moved to Mobile to attend Medical School at the University of South Alabama in 2009, and has been a proud Mobilian ever since. She joined Children’s Medical Group in 2016, and her office is at the Airport Boulevard location. She lives in Mobile with her husband, Andrew, and their three children: Jude, Luke, and Annie.
