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Annual physical exams are important during the teen years

By: Dan Palmquist, M.D.

It's the end of summer – a busy time of year when most students and parents are concentrating on getting backpacks in order. With school starting in less than a month, you probably have enough on your plate and aren't necessarily looking for anything more to do. Fitting in a medical exam might feel like one task too many. After all, your child is healthy and active. Is an exam really that important?

The answer is a definite “yes.”

Typically, schools require physical examinations before allowing students to participate in sports activities, but there are other good reasons to have your child undergo an annual physical.

The teen years – from 10 to 19 – are typically ones of rapid growth and development, and an important time to maintain the practice of regular annual physical exams.

Four areas of development
During an annual physical, your physician will focus on four main areas of development. The first is physical development. Growth spurts, puberty, and body changes are all part of the physical transformation experienced during the teen years. While the range in growth can vary greatly from child to child, your doctor can check certain benchmarks – such as height, weight, and body mass index -- to make sure your child is developing normally.

The second area assessed is that of cognitive development – or the process by which the brain develops the abilities to think, learn, reason, and remember. Teens gradually develop the ability to think in more sophisticated, abstract ways.

Emotional and social development is the third area that your physician will examine. Adolescents often experience fluctuating emotions – from insecurity and self-consciousness to excitement and joy. Friends often take the place of family as the most socially influential persons in your teen's life.

Sensory and motor skills are also developing during the teen years. Your teen may seem clumsy or awkward as he or she adjusts to a rapidly growing body. Boys' strength and agility develops at a rapid rate, but both girls and boys can improve their strength by participating in sports and athletic activities.

Immunizations
Your child's immunizations will be brought up to date during the physical examination. In some cases, vaccination recommendations have changed since your adolescent's last appointment and new immunizations are available and recommended or required. Other immunizations – such as tetanus – require regular updates throughout adolescence and adulthood. Bring your child's immunization record to the appointment (especially if you are seeing a new doctor).

Your teen's health history
Throughout the examination, your physician will be gathering facts. You can help him or her by providing as much information as possible. For instance, be prepared to discuss your family history. Your doctor is interested if you have a family history of sudden death, heart problems, high cholesterol, or high blood pressure.

Your teen's health history should be reviewed. If your child has asthma, diabetes, high blood pressure, or any other medical condition requiring ongoing treatment, your doctor will want to talk with you and your teen about its effects on his or her health and athletic activities.

Exercise history is also pertinent. This involves your child's history in relation to exercise. Has he or she ever had chest pain, or become lightheaded or faint after exercising? Has your child ever received a sports injury? If so, be sure to relay this to your physician.

Your doctor may ask questions about your teen's lifestyle habits. It's important to discuss these issues as honestly as possible, and you may want to allow your teen some time alone with the physician in order to facilitate this. This discussion may involve substance use and abuse – including use of tobacco and alcohol, eating disorders, sexual behaviors, steroids, and performance enhancers.

The physical exam is also a time for you and your teen to ask questions and discuss any concerns that you have regarding health issues. This can involve any of the lifestyle habits mentioned above, as well as any other medical concerns.

The teen years are filled with changes on just about every level – physical, cognitive, emotional, and social. As parents, most of us wouldn't have considered skipping a doctor's visit when our kids were toddlers, but now that they have entered the teen years, we may think they don't require regular physical examinations like when they were younger. This couldn't be further from the truth. Because of all the changes going on in an adolescent's life, regular physical exams are more important than ever.

Dr. Palmquist is a board certified family practice physician at Raiter Clinic.