Well-Child Care: School-Aged Children

The goals of the well-child visit for school-aged children (ages 6-12 years) are health promotion, disease prevention, disease detection, and anticipatory guidance. Critical components include the physical examination and developmental surveillance. Vaccines remain a cornerstone of disease prevention and should be administered on time. Screening for dental care, dyslipidemia, hearing, hypertension, mental health, overweight and obesity, scoliosis, social determinants of health, and vision should be considered or performed, and is often dictated by risk factors. Healthy lifestyle should be discussed at every well-child visit, including recommending 60 minutes/day of physical activity, adequate nutritional intake, 9 to 12 hours/night of sleep without disturbance, and routine dental care, including fluoride supplementation if not in the primary water supply. Social history should be reviewed, including media use and substance use and exposure. Children and families should be counseled on safety, including the leading cause of death in this age group: unintentional injury.