Your child should receive a physical annually, a school physical is just one that is required by the school to make sure that they are in good health, developing well, and won't get other children sick. 

These visits are the perfect time for health screenings for your child. The doctor will screen for diseases like autism, dyslexia, and the need for glasses. 

You can also find out if your child needs any medications, especially ones that need to be provided to the school, such as asthma which may require an inhaler for you to keep and one for child especially if they want to participate in sports.

The most important part of the physical to make sure that your child is healthy enough to go to school and focus on their education.

The doctor will check your child’s:

• Height and Weight: they will be compared to other children their age to ensure he is growing at a healthy rate, and nothing is hindering his growth.
• Blood pressure: just to make sure it’s within the healthy range.
• Health history: so that they can know if there are any family illnesses, they are at risk for that the doctor needs to pay extra attention too.
• Immunizations: A school physical is the perfect time to make sure your child is up to date on their immunizations.
• Physical health: This will be done through a physical examination where the doctor listens to your child's heart and lungs as well as performs a musculoskeletal evaluation.

Other things that may be done by the doctor if they feel the need to:

• Hearing Test
• Eye Exam
• Developmental and Behavioral Assessments
  Blood Testing

A school physical is mostly focused on your child's overall health and things that can disrupt his learning or things that can affect them in the classroom (ADD, Food Allergies, etc.). A sports physical focuses on whether your child is healthy enough to play sports competitively. While both physicals go over your child's health history the sports physical is based more on their physical health, their past injuries and surgeries, and more focus on the heart and lungs to check for disorders that could make sport's participation dangerous.

 The doctor will check your child's:

• Health history: Just like a school physical a sports physical check the health history for any family illnesses they are at risk of that the doctor may need to pay extra attention too.
• General health: A sports physical will also ensure that your child is generally healthy enough to participate in their sport of choice. through a physical exam paying extra attention to the heart, lungs, spine, and stomach. This checks for things that can affect your child's ability to play like scoliosis and hernias.
• Heart arrhythmia: An irregular heartbeat, called an arrhythmia, can sometimes disqualify your child from participating in some sports. That’s because certain sports can exacerbate the occurrence of an arrhythmia and put your child in danger of significant complications.
• Eating disorders: A sports physical helps ensure that your child’s eating habits are healthy enough to offset the high caloric demands of school sports. 
• High blood pressure: High blood pressure in some sports can be particularly dangerous. A sports physical can help ensure your child either has a healthy blood pressure or the means to control high blood pressure via medication.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has a set a recommended Preventive Pediatric Health Care guide. This is a schedule of when you should bring your child in to be checked by their doctor to ensure that no health issues show up and that you give your child the building blocks to build their most healthy life.

These are the ages they recommend you bring your child in:

• The First week (3 to 5 days old) 
• 1 Month Old
• 2 Months Old
• 4 Months Old
• 6 Months Old
• 9 Months Old
• 12 Months Old
• 15 Months Old
• 18 Months Old
• 2 Years Old (24 Months)
• 2 ½ Years Old (30 Months)
• Every year from 3 Years Old to 21 Years Old

The younger a child is the more important it is that they are regularly seen by a doctor. They're called formative years because these years are the most important to build good healthy habits that children can build on for the rest of their lives. You want to make sure your child is growing at a healthy rate, and nothing is wrong that can stunt their growth. 

We can also use these visits to prevent any illnesses your child may be at risk of. Since most of these visits can align with their immunization schedule you can use them to update their vaccinations.

These visits are also the perfect time for you to bring up any topics that you want to discuss with your child's doctor. Questions about their sleeping, eating, behavior, development, or how they get along with others. You should bring all your questions with you so that the doctor can answer everything you need to know. By doing this we hope to build a team between us, you, and your child that will pave the way to the optimal social, physical, and mental health of your child!