Growing Children Need Monitoring- Opt For Regular Preventive Check Ups!

When you buy a new car, you ensure to keep it in top condition. You never forget getting it serviced on time. A medium sized car may cost you anything between Rs 5-10000 in each service and you don’t flick an eyelid to pay for it. On the roads if you hear one abnormal sound from the engine you would rush to the mechanic to rectify it and won’t mind paying a few thousands if required. I would like to remind you all of the radio advertisement against road rage in which when a man is told that his daughter has got a bruise, he says, its ok with growing children, but when he is told that there is a scratch on his car, he gets violent on who caused it.

Are we ignoring our children?

Do we care more about our cars and non-living belongings than our children? I am sure most of you would say no, but practically look into your priorities when it comes to your child’s health, how concerned are you.

Our recommendations:

The recommendation for routine visits to the paediatrician (without your child falling ill) after the age of two years is every 6 months, which is if your child does not have any underlying condition. In case the child has a condition like asthma, or an ongoing treatment for any other underlying illness then the visits should be monthly or as advised by the paediatrician. Many a times parents do not follow up unless there is a problem, to which I generally tell my patients, ‘Bring him for regular check-ups so that he doesn’t fall ill’. The routine visits from birth till two years of age are almost monthly initially and then as per the vaccination schedule.

The importance of prevention:

You would all agree that the most expensive, or should I say priceless, dearest, and divine belonging that you possess, is your child. Prevention is better than cure, and hence we also recommend regular preventive health check-ups for all children irrespective of their good health status.

• A routine check-up would include examination by the paediatrician, assessing the growth of the child, look into any hidden or potentially likely problem.
• Certain basic investigations to look into those aspects which are not physically imminent would be done.
• Note that the world of internet is full of a lot of information on what is good or bad for your child, but we would like to tell you that whether it is diet, or treatment or bringing up, it is specific for a specific child ( should I say tailor made ).

In our clinical practice we see many children with some or the underlying problem or deficiency leading to issues in the child’s day today social life. Sometimes these problems are ignored in the initial stages as normal or not significant. This is where a preventive health check-up steps in, to nip the problem at the stage of the bud. A stitch on time saves nine.