Child health screening should start as early as age nine, pediatricians recommend
The American Academy of Pediatrics (APA) recently updated its guidelines on child health screening.
Health Day News reports that the APA is calling out to parents that kids should undergo screening for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), depression, and cholesterol levels. Other tests would even require kids as young as nine years old to undergo screening.
The updated recommendations, presented in the journal Pediatrics on Dec. 7, highlighted that health screening should be done to children from various age groups and should not only be limited to those who are at high risk for certain diseases.
Prior to the updated guidelines, health screening were only required from children who have high risk of developing certain diseases based on familial history, according to Dr. Geoffrey Simon, chairman of APA's Committee on Practice and Ambulatory Medicine.
However, research exhibited that there are abnormal levels of cholesterol in children that are often missed. To make things a lot simple, Simon said that the group decided to require children nine or ten years old to undergo screening.
The academy summarized the tests that children should go through. The required screening for high cholesterol levels reflects the increasing problem of obesity among young patients.
HIV screening is also required in kids 16 to 18 years old since statistics show that one out of four HIV patients are those from the age range of 13 to 24 years old. Additionally, 60 percent of young HIV patients are unaware that they are carrying the disease.
Screening for depression among youngsters was also part of the updated guidelines. The AAP recommends that children from 11 to 21 years old should be screened for the disorder every year. The AAP states that suicide has now become the leading cause of death among the youth.
Other required tests include fluoride varnish applications for dental health, vision screening, drug and alcohol use assessment, anemia or iron deficiency screening, cervical dysplasia screening, and assessment of congenital heart disease risk in newborns before discharge.
