School Aged Visit
Well-child visits aren’t just for infants. Your grade-school children need them as well . Although well-child visits are most frequent during infancy, when development is most rapid, we will continue to see your older child yearly to make sure his or her development is progressing at the proper pace.
At these visits the following will occur
- a discussion about your child’s diet and reinforcement of healthy eating habits
- your child’s elimination and sleep patterns
- The doctor will ask a series of questions concerning your child’s intellectual and behavioral development. These questions will vary by your child’s age. This includes how your child is performing in school, how he or she is interacting socially with friends and family members, and how your child is dealing with their feelings.
- hearing and vision screening yearly
- blood pressure screening yearly
- height and weight yearly
- a thorough physical exam yearly including a genital exam (please visit our how to prepare your child for the well visit (link) section for more information
How much weight should my child be gaining each year?
On average, children gain 4 to 7 pounds and gain 1 to 4 inches per year. At approximately age 10 or 11 the rate of growth once again begins to increase, an indication that the child will soon enter puberty.
How much and what should my child be eating?
It is important that children consume enough calories to ensure proper growth. However, many children tend to consume too many calories. Children aged 2 to 3 years, 4 to 6 years, and 7 to 10 years require approximately 1300, 1800, and 2000 calories, respectively. We do not encourage excessive fat intake. The total fat intake should not exceed 30% of calories and saturated fat should account for no more than 10% of total calories daily.
Some good websites for information on healthy eating include:
How much physical activity does my child need?
As important as physical activity is decreasing screen time. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends limiting a child’s use of TV, movies, video and computer games to no more than one or two hours a day.
I’ve heard calcium and vitamin D are important what foods can my child eat to get these vitamins and minerals?
Both calcium and vitamin D are essential to your child’s growth and development. School aged children require 600IU/day of vitamin D. The best source of vitamin D is in fortified foods such as milk (100-120IU/cup), fortified orange juice (140IU/cup), fortified cereals or yogurts (40-60IU/cup). Other sources include fish and eggs. Fish liver oil are very high in vitamin D.
The recommended amount of calcium per day is 1000mg for school aged children. Dairy products are excellent sources of calcium (300-400mg/serving). For children who do not eat dairy, broccoli, spinach, kale, fortified soy milk and fortified orange juice are alternative sourced of calcium.