We may be in the heart of summer, but now is the time parents should start thinking about getting their children into the pediatrician for back to school physicals.
Dr. Kim Giuliano is a pediatrician at Cleveland Clinic Children's. She says the back-to-school check-up should be an annual event, no matter how healthy your child appears to be at the time.
"So, if parents have had any concerns over the year about their child's growth, nutrition, development, behavior, or learning capabilities, now is definitely the time to bring it up," she said.
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Giuliano says your pediatrician will want to know how your child is growing.
their growth charts will be compared and your doctor will look for certain developmental milestones. Your child's vaccine record will be double-checked and updated.
Plus, your pediatrician will look for any potential skin, stomach, or joint problems, too. Giuliano says getting a comprehensive head-to-toe assessment is very important before every school year.
"Most of the time when we see healthy children for physicals they leave the office without any identified problems, but there are times when very serious problems can be identified and the earlier we pick up on them, instead of waiting for a child to become progressively ill, the better off a child can be," she explained.
Giuliano says the time to schedule your child's back to school check-up is now. She says the closer you get to the start of school; the harder it will be land an appointment.