Child Physical Exams: Your Complete Guide

Physical examinations are a crucial part of maintaining your child’s health and wellness. There is no one way of conducting a physical exam, the procedures depend on age, and if the child develops a medical condition. Physicians take multiple measurements during physical exams to assess your child’s health and make medical recommendations based on their findings. A comprehensive physical review includes the following assessments:

Growth and Nutrition Assessments
Blood Pressure
Spine, Hip and Knee Assessments
Measurements for Sports Participation

We will discuss each of the assessments mentioned above to help parents understand the process of a physical exam.

Growth and Nutrition Assessments

As children grow, their nutritional requirements change in response to the variations in metabolism. At each stage of growth, your child has different dietary needs, and your child will grow if you meet these nutritional requirements. During a physical exam, the doctor will measure various aspects of your child’s nutrition levels and growth progress based on the following criteria:

Weight Measurements
Height Measurements
Measure Body Mass Index to check if the child has a healthy body weight

The doctor might also ask you to maintain a growth record for your child to see how they grow over time. Each of these measurements will point out whether your kid needs to change their nutritional habits or if there are deficiencies that need to be overcome.

Blood Pressure

Blood pressure measurements are essential to make sure that your child’s cardiovascular system is healthy. Although there are automated blood pressure measurement tools, your doctor might use the manual way. The process is as follows:

Have your child lie down
Have them extend their arm outward, level with their chest
Wrap a BP cuff around their elbow and inflate it
Listen to the pulse in the arteries with their stethoscope as they deflate the cuff

Spine, Hip and Knee Assessments

The hip, spine, and knee are crucial for your child’s mobility and healthy growth. Your physician will check if your child is in-toeing or out-toeing and follow-up to make sure that their skeleton is developing normally. They also measure hip rotations and the way the ankles turn when the knee is flexed. The assessments will be used to check if the child’s muscles are developing normally or if there are any deformities. Based on the evaluation, the physician will either clear the child or make recommendations on how to treat any possible abnormalities.

Measurements for Sports Participation

Playing sports requires your child to be fully hale and healthy, capable of taking on immense amounts of physical stress. As part of measurements for sports participation, the physician will assess the following factors:

Cardiac history
Hypertension and blood pressure
Vision problems
Asthma
Kidney problems
Heat illnesses

A thru Z Pediatrics is a collection of primary care pediatrics San Antonio Texas clinic. With a pediatric medical center at Ewing Halsell and clinics at E. Sonterra Boulevard in San Antonio, we offer a wide range of medical services for babies, children, and adolescent. Speak with us today for more information on our services or to make an appointment with our child specialists.

This article is general information, not medical advice. If you have concerns about your child's health, call your A thru Z Pediatrics office.