Well-Child Visit Schedule: Is your child due for their annual well visit?
Summertime is a great time to catch up on routine healthcare appointments for kids while they are out of school. One of the most important pieces of that is the annual Well Visit. This comprehensive exam is critical for the long-term health of our children.
What is the Usual Well-Child Visit Schedule?
From 3 to 21 years old, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that children continue to visit their pediatrician for a well-child visit once a year.
Well-Child Visit Schedule vs. Sports Physical Schedule
Many urgent care and orthopedic clinics are offering sports physicals to clear children to participate in school sports activities. A sports physical is a limited exam that focuses only on heart, bone and muscle health to “clear” a child to participate in physically demanding activities.
Why is a Well-Child Visit Important?
Hear from several Raleigh Peds physicians on the difference between a sports physical and a comprehensive well exam, and why the well visit is most important.
Dr. Sarah Hunt
“During the annual well visit we look at the whole child. Assessing growth, development, mental health and areas they may be at risk for injury or illness. As a child’s primary care physician, we value developing and keeping a strong relationship between the family, the child and the physician. A big part of our role is to help teach children to advocate for their health and ask questions and feel confident talking to healthcare professionals. This cannot be done in an setting where a child is seen once.”
Dr. Melinda Taylor
“The annual checkup is so much more than a sports physical. We screen for very common mental health issues and begin the process for further evaluation if necessary. We ask about and encourage healthy habits around diet and exercise that can affect lifelong health. We discuss chronic conditions and their ongoing management. Finally, we work directly with subspecialists when indicated to manage patients with more complex past medical histories.”
Dr. Samantha McClease
My top three reasons to have an annual well visit and not just a sports physical are:
- The pediatrician has the unique perspective of knowing the patient and their history well, which can be of great importance for the sports physical (for example, I’ve had patients with very concerning family histories of genetic cardiac disease be cleared for sports by urgent care, when they really needed a cardiology evaluation first)
- Screening for things that wouldn’t come up during an Ortho/UC appt for a sports physical, like mental health concerns, substance use, STIs
- Ensuring that vaccines are up to date.
Dr. Allen Hewett
My top four goals for each child’s well visit are:
- Focus on mental health and screening for issues with attention span, anxiety, low mood.
- Discuss avoiding the highly addictive substance nicotine in the midst of a widespread increase in use amongst adolescents and young adults.
- Screen for chronic conditions like type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol so as to start medical therapy early to prevent early-onset coronary artery disease, kidney disease, and strokes in adulthood.
- Helping parents develop strategies for incorporating a healthy amount of screen time for their kids.
Dr. Karen Fieselman
My top reasons for having an annual well visit are:
- Following up on chronic medical conditions
- Updating vaccine status
- Mental health screening
- Maintaining a relationship with families so teenagers know who their doctor is and feels comfortable bringing up concerns now and in the future
Dr. Katie Dharmasri
“It is super important to look over time at your growth and development with your provider/practice who has seen you in the past. It is easy to miss problems with these if you don’t have the context of how a patient was doing in the past. Your provider may see new changes on your child’s body during their physical exam, and it is critical to be able to compare this to their physical exam in the past and have a provider who knows them. It is important to build a relationship with your provider, ideally the same one over the years, so that you can build trust with them. You all will get to know each other better which makes your visits more personalized and beneficial from both sides!”
Schedule Your Child’s Well Visit Today
Pediatrician visits are just as important for healthy children as they are when a child is sick. Request an appointment online or call our office to schedule your child’s next well visit.