PARENT ING
Wellness Calling the Shots Do kids still need back-to-school checkups during a pandemic? By Malia Jacobson So, why should parents prioritize backto-school wellness checkups when school is taking place online? First, staying in touch with your health-care providers at regular intervals is just plain good for your family’s health. Research links delayed preventive care to negative outcomes, such as increased health-care costs and a lower quality of life.
With most schooling remaining remote this fall, “back to school” season looks a little different. Many familiar habits of the season — riding school buses, maneuvering crowded school hallways and eating in bustling cafeterias — are on hold. But annual wellness checkups, or back-to-school exams, are just as important as ever, says internal medicine physician Darshana Shanbhag, M.D., of Overlake Medical Center in Bellevue. Why postponing preventive care hurts Public health experts are concerned that parents are postponing preventive care for their children and themselves out of concerns about COVID-19. According to a May 2020 report released by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation (kff.org), doctor visits for women’s care and wellness screenings dropped 86 percent during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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For children with chronic illness, missing regular wellness visits can negatively impact health well into adulthood. A seven-year, population-based study of 36,944 children found that for children with chronic disease, missed wellness checkups and reduced continuity of care — or a disruption in regular healthcare services over time — were each independently linked to an increased risk of being hospitalized as an adult. If kids still want to play sports when practices resume, staying current on paperwork and vaccines required for sports participation will ease the transition back to sports. Plus, checking in with your child’s pediatrician about needed vaccines, boosters, prescription refills, screenings and referrals can serve as a welcome (and probably necessary) reminder to maintain a sense of normalcy during a time when things feel anything but normal. Support for sleep, schedules and pressing questions A wellness checkup also allows parents to ask a real, live doctor the questions they’ve been mulling over, says Shanbhag.
“We’re getting a lot of questions like ‘Is it safe for my children to visit their grandparents?’ ‘Is it safe for us to go on a family vacation?’ ‘Is it safe for my child to have a playdate?’ Having a wellness checkup gives you the chance to talk about health risks in the current environment as they apply to your family’s unique situation.” At this time of year, a fair share of those questions may center on sleep. The perennial struggle to help kids wake up for morning classes after a summer without an alarm clock may be particularly tough this year, since kids haven’t had to catch an early school bus since March. “This fall is not going to be normal,” says Scott Bonvallet, M.D., medical director of the Overlake Sleep Disorders Center. But kids still need to get up for class, even if that class takes place on a screen instead of at school. “Kids thrive on structure, and it helps to keep their sleep routine stable,” says Bonvallet. “A few weeks before school starts, start waking them up earlier — no later than 9 a.m. — and establish a nighttime routine that includes putting electronics away an hour before bedtime.” Putting on your own mask Kids aren’t the only ones who should schedule an annual wellness checkup; parents are skipping their own self-care, which hurts their health long-term, says Shanbhag. “Parents are working and schooling their children and don’t feel like they can take time for their own medical
