Children Check-Up

Why Are Check-Ups Important for Children?

Regular doctor check-ups are of great importance for your child’s healthy growth and development. Routine check-ups, which should be done at least once a year, play a critical role both in evaluating your child’s current condition and in early diagnosis of possible health problems.

During the annual check-up, your doctor will ask you and your child a series of questions to better understand your child’s health history. Sharing information such as past illnesses, vaccinations, and details about developmental processes will help the doctor make an accurate assessment. In this way, he/she will be able to compare his/her past health status with his/her current status and create an appropriate treatment/follow-up plan.

Periodic check-ups, which are performed by the same doctor or doctors as much as possible, provide the opportunity to follow the changes in your child’s health, growth, and development more closely. Your doctor, who can make comparisons according to past records, can see positive or negative changes more clearly and take the necessary precautions.

Thanks to periodic check-ups, conditions such as development, sleep, speech, and behavioral disorders in your child can be detected early. Thus, the necessary treatment or rehabilitation processes can be started quickly. Early diagnosis and intervention can help solve or slow down the progression of many health and developmental problems.

In addition to regular check-ups, it is also extremely important to work closely with your doctor for your child’s healthy development. Consider your doctor’s recommendations and share your questions and concerns. Help create special treatment or monitoring programs according to your child’s needs. In this way, the most appropriate steps can be taken for your child’s health.

For all these reasons, routine check-ups at least once a year are essential to closely monitor your child’s health, growth and development. By being in close communication with your doctor, you can contribute to your child’s healthy growth through early diagnosis and correct treatment plans.

How Should Check-Up Periods Be for Children?

Regular health examinations are of great importance for the healthy growth and development of children. Doctors can closely monitor the child’s development, detect potential problems at an early stage and take the necessary precautions thanks to these periodic check-ups. Experts offer clear recommendations on when children should be examined.

The first 2 years of a child’s life are the most critical period in terms of healthy growth and development. For this reason, experts recommend that children be examined at certain intervals from birth: Regular check-ups at birth, 1 month, 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 9 months, 12 months, 15 months, 18 months and 24 months can closely monitor children’s physical, neurological and cognitive development. At the same time, many critical elements such as nutrition, growth, developmental stages and vaccination schedule can be evaluated.

Health monitoring of children after the age of two is also very important. Experts recommend regular health check-ups every year from the age of 2 to the age of 7. During this period, children should be evaluated in many aspects such as height, weight, vision, hearing, teeth, vaccinations, developmental stages and social-emotional adaptation. In this way, potential problems can be detected early and necessary precautions can be taken.

Health check-ups for children starting at the age of 7 can be done every 2 years. However, these check-ups are also critical for the child’s health, growth and development. Changes in adolescence, peer relationships and mental state should also be evaluated during these check-ups.

What is Done in the Child Check-Up Stages?

Within the scope of child check-up, children should be examined by doctors from different branches at each age. In this way, children’s physical, neurological and cognitive development can be followed. A detailed examination is performed during the child check-up. In this context; basic findings such as weight, height, head circumference, body temperature, pulse, respiratory rate and characteristics, blood pressure are evaluated. In addition, the child’s general appearance, posture, skin, hair, eyes, ears, mouth-teeth structure, neck, chest, abdomen, genitals and many other areas are examined in detail.

During the check-up process, the appropriateness of the child’s growth and development for his/her age is also evaluated. The Denver Development Test is applied between 6-8 months. If deemed necessary in later check-ups, detailed developmental evaluations can be made by a child psychologist or pedagogue.

There are also examinations by specialists from different branches within the scope of child health checks:

3 months after the child starts walking, the pediatric orthopedist evaluates the skeletal structure and walking.
Starting from the first tooth, the dentist examines the oral and dental health every 6 months.
At the age of 2 and in the preschool period, the eye structure and vision functions are evaluated by the ophthalmologist.
A hearing test is performed at birth or between the ages of 4 and 6.

After the check-up examinations are completed, doctors evaluate all the findings and create a comprehensive report about the child’s health status. If any problems are detected, the necessary treatment and rehabilitation processes are initiated. The child’s growth and development can be closely monitored thanks to regular check-ups.

What are the Check-Up Tests for Children?

Routine laboratory tests performed within the scope of the check-up are also very important. The main check-up tests performed are as follows:

Hemogram (Complete Blood Count): Examines the number and condition of blood cells.

TIT (Complete Urine Analysis): Evaluates the health of the urinary tract and kidneys.

Fasting Blood Glucose: Shows whether the sugar metabolism is functioning regularly.

Urea: Determines whether the kidney functions are sufficient.

SGOT-SGPT: Analyzes the status of liver health.

HBsAg-Anti HBsAg: Determines the presence/immunity of the Hepatitis B virus.

Stool Microscopy: Performed to detect intestinal parasites.

The imaging tests performed within the scope of pediatric check-up are as follows:

PA Lung X-ray: Examines whether the lungs and chest area are healthy.
Abdominal Ultrasonography: Provides evaluation of intra-abdominal organs.