Princeton, WV (WOAY) For kids in any grade, back-to-school season means a list of things to do before that first day, and annual checkups can be a great opportunity to get that sports physical out of the way and make sure the kids are ready for a healthy year.
Pediatrician Dr. Rhyan Bailey at WVU Medicine Princeton Community Hospital says that a checkup before school can help deal with problems before they pop up mid-year.
“Back to school can be a wonderful time for our annual and preventative visits. It gives us a chance to get together on any medical diagnoses, but more importantly, preventative care… Even when nothing seems wrong, we might have underlying problems with maybe blood pressure or weight or any other problems such as asthma, allergies, and things like that. Or even behavioral problems that might affect their school performance. During routine preventative visits, we also check vision and hearing for students to make sure that they’re able to see the board and hear the teachers.”
Bailey also says that parents of children who take medication should know when their child needs to take it and fill out the appropriate form so the school nurse can administer the medication during the school day.
Before the first day of school, you should also be sure your child has all of their required vaccines.
“One of the most important things is making sure that kids are up to date on routine childhood immunizations… People can go to the AAP’s website. That’s the American Academy of Pediatrics. And those are the immunization guidelines that I follow. You can also reach out to your school on what routine childhood immunizations are required per childhood age or grade level.”
