Kids' Health Checklist

While most adults are concerned about common ailments such as heart disease and diabetes, children have a different set of health concerns.

Tod Conner, M.D., a pediatrician on the medical staff at Memorial Hospital, provides this checklist of health topics to discuss with your pediatrician.

Newborns to Toddlers
Pediatricians schedule well-child checkups at various intervals until about age 2, then switch to annual exams. "Toddlers get more mobile, and you need to be concerned with things they can get into," Dr. Conner says.

Health:

• physical exams
• immunizations
• developmental screenings

Diet/Nutrition:

• breastfeeding
• formula and baby foods

Safety:

• car seats
• poison prevention
• sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)

Prevention Preschoolers to Sixth-Graders
"As kids get older, they start to explore the environment outside of the house and outside of parents' control. Make sure the environment is reasonably well controlled- supervise trampolines and make sure children wear helmets when bicycling and safety gear when skateboarding," Dr. Conner says.

Health:

• annual physical exam
• immunizations for school
• screening for vision, hearing and learning disabilities

Diet/Nutrition:

• balanced diet and exercise

Safety:

• car booster seats
• poison prevention
• swimming pool and water safety
• bike helmets

Tweens and Teenagers
Dr. Conner says, "Once kids reach high school, all bets are off. Make sure they are reasonably accounted for, and be available for discussions about sex and drugs. Talk with your preteens as their bodies start to change, and keep talking-kids tend to forget."

Health:

• annual physical exam
• sports physicals
• sexually transmitted diseases

Diet/Nutrition:

• balanced diet and exercise
• BMI (body mass index) screening

Safety:

• sports
• seat belts and driver safety
• smoking, alcohol and drugs

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