Healthy Children: Why Your Teen Needs More Than Just the Athlete's Physical

by Emory Johns Creek Hospital/Special 

Yes, you need to add it to your back-to-school checklist. In addition to shopping for your child’s school supplies, getting him or her back into a proper sleep routine and having your teen read a few books to get the mental juices flowing again, medical experts are also stressing the importance of physical exams for adolescents. Most teens and parents are familiar with sports physicals, but may not realize they are not the same and not a substitute for comprehensive health exams.

According to Savitha Shama, MD, board-certified internist at Emory Johns Creek Hospital/Emory Johns Creek Physicians, the goal of the sports physical is to ensure the safe participation of teens in sports. These exams focus mostly on the musculoskeletal and cardiovascular systems. Doctors look for past injuries and make sure they’re healing properly. They also identify illnesses that have risks of life threatening complications during sports participation, such as sudden cardiac death syndrome. However, because these types of conditions are rare (five per 100,000 athletes), Shama said teens need to supplement necessary sports physicals with a more comprehensive exam. 

“When we look at the various adolescent statistics compiled over the past decade, we’ve found that when it comes to the most problematic health issues and causes of death for teens, things have not improved greatly,” said Shama. “Accidental injuries, suicide, teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and mental illness are still some things topping the list of most dangerous health issues for adolescents, and these things are preventable,” said Shama. 

Comprehensive health exams for teens enable doctors to get a total picture of overall health, as well as educate adolescents and their parents on how to prevent the myriad of health issues faced by teens today. For example, a 2007-2008 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that 17 percent of children and adolescents are obese, putting them at higher risk for heart disease and Type 2 diabetes later in life. Therefore, physicians focus on managing obesity and reducing the risk for future cardiovascular disease by treating high blood pressure and high cholesterol early, as well as encouraging smoking cessation. 

“Often, our only opportunity to see adolescents is at the time of a physical,” said Shama. “We take this time to talk about things like alcohol, drugs, safe sex and abstinence and eating disorders, but we also screen for cholesterol, emotional issues and even learning difficulties if applicable,” she said. 

Even parents are counseled, according to Shama. Statistics show kids are at lower risk for many of these health problems if parents adapt their parenting styles to their changing teenagers and adjust their relationships appropriately. There is no substitute for good parent-child connection and understanding. 

And even though most parents are on top of their children’s health, they may not realize that a back-to-school physical could be one of the best opportunities to provide a teen guidance for the future, not only from a counseling perspective, but from a genetic standpoint. 

“As adolescents transition from being a child to being an adult, they are pre-disposed to many common illnesses,” said Lenus Louis, MD, board-certified internist at Emory Johns Creek Hospital/Emory Johns Creek Physicians. “Many of the genes that make a person susceptible to things like hypertension or high cholesterol begin to express themselves during adolescence. By diving into family health history, we can help teens focus on lifestyle modification as needed. It is valuable information they can carry with them throughout their lives,” he said. 

What’s one more note most of us may not have thought of? Immunizations for adolescents. Louis said that while most of us think we’re healthy, illnesses like pneumonia and diphtheria are on the rise due to the increase in international travel.

“We may not know it, but when we travel abroad, we bring back many illnesses that may have been licked in the United States, but are more prevalent overseas,” said Louis. “That means that if immunizations aren’t up to date, we are making ourselves more vulnerable to diseases that haven’t been on our radar screens for years.” 

Prevention is the bottom line, according to Shama and Louis. Spending an hour each year with a doctor can go a long way in safeguarding a teenager’s health for a lifetime. 

Emory Johns Creek Hospital, located in the heart of Johns Creek, is known for its state-of-the-art technology in a luxurious, hotel-like setting. As a community hospital participating in most insurance plans, services include 24/7 emergency care with board-certified emergency physicians, state-of-the-art all digital imaging including a 64-slice CT,  MRI,  The Birth Place with Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, 24-hour anesthesiologists, intensive care, advanced cardiac care, vascular medicine and surgery, rehabilitation services and women’s services.  Emory Johns Creek Hospital is home to the Atlanta Bariatric Center, designated a Center of Excellence by the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgeons. Learn more at EmoryJohnsCreek.com.