Why Every Indian Child Should Take a Full Body Test?

Indian parents will most of the times focus on their child's education and extracurricular activities as well as controlling the amount of nutrition that enters their body. Unfortunately, the same parents will rarely have their child go through a health checkup on a regular basis, and when they do, it is usually only after the child has shown many signs that may indicate a very serious disease or disorder that may have caused a severe reaction in their body. Indian parents also do not understand that some health conditions may not necessarily demonstrate any early symptoms or signs, which is an immediate cause for concern if they do not have regular health checkups.

With the help of regular health checkups, Indian parents will be able to effectively stop the progression of various different health complications and disorders that are mostly hidden under the naked eye, such as anemia, vitamin deficiencies, and even issues that arise from the thyroid. All of these implications can be due to the immense amount of air pollution  that has been plaguing the country for many years at this point, the constant changes that occur in both the lifestyle as well as the environment is also a major reason for why children are falling ill more frequently, and lastly, the extremely poor dietary choices that the parents provide for the children that are not sufficient enough to give them the correct amount of growth they require for proper and healthy development.

The process of having a full-body checkup would include the addition of a physical examination, numerous different blood tests, analysis of urine samples, both vision as well as hearing tests, and even CAT scans, depending on the age of the child. Through a thorough assessment, medical professionals will be able to accurately figure out what is wrong with the child.

Many major Indian cities, such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and more, are able to slowly understand the benefits that regular health checkups can bring for the younger populace. Yet, in much smaller and minor towns and villages, a lot of health checkups are primarily still a reactive phenomenon, which desperately needs to be changed as soon as possible.

WHAT DOES A FULL BODY CHECKUP FOR CHILDREN INCLUDE?

This profile is a very complex yet straight-forward package that does not only get ample amounts of blood samples like other similar test profiles. It is mainly focused on the overall health and well-being of the child, while also ensuring that the body is not at any potential risk for further future illness and infections. Each of these test components may vary from the age of the child being tested. Down below are some of the many different tests that are performed by the full-body profile:-

GENERAL PHYSICAL EXAMINATION

This test essentially looks over the main physical attributes that a child uses and maintains on a daily basis, such as the weight, the height, the BMI, the dental hygiene, the overall heart rate as well as various different signs of physical abnormalities that may or may not have been intentionally found prior to the test.

COMPLETE BLOOD COUNT (CBC)

This helps the medical professionals significantly in finding signs of anemia, infections that have great risks for the circulation of oxygen across the blood, and other severe symptoms that lead to complications regarding the complete blood count within the body.

VITAMIN D AND B12 DEFICIENCIES

The occurrence of vitamin deficiencies among Indian children are becoming way too common nowadays due to the sedentary lifestyle that they are partaking in for themselves. This leads to a lot of children not getting the required vitamin D needed for their body to nurture and grow due to a complete lack of sunlight entering their bodies. It also does not help that most of these children are also not being provided the required amount of nutritious food to help their bodies grow stronger every day due to a completely unhinged diet plan filled with barely enough nutritive content to help them grow on a regular basis.

THYROID PROFILE (INCLUDES TESTS FOR T3, T4 AND TSH)

Improper amounts of thyroid imbalance has been known to severely affect the growth and development of a child as well as negatively affecting their cognitive abilities in the long run.

LIVER AND KIDNEY FUNCTION TESTS

These vital organs are responsible for a lot of heavy work undertaken by the body, which can lead to proper functioning of the body's work cycle. Any errors or dysfunctions found between these two vital organs can lead to some very serious complications if not immediately taken care of.

BLOOD SUGAR AND CHOLESTEROL TESTS

In case you or your family has had some connections with improper blood sugar levels or cholesterol levels, it would be wise to have your child also take this test just to confirm that they are not under any serious threat from any rising blood sugar levels or lowering cholesterol levels due to their familial connection with the disorders.

URINE AND STOOL SAMPLES

Problems related to the digestive tract or stomach can usually be detected from stool samples that are collected by the medical professionals and put through intensive tests in their high-tech laboratories as well as finding out any issues in the kidneys or bladder of urine samples, where signs such as blood in both the stool and urine are a major cause for concern among them.

WHAT ARE SOME COMMON HEALTH ISSUES THAT ARE PICKED UP THROUGH THE FULL-BODY PROFILE TESTS?

India has a very common problem in accumulating various different diseases and complicating the health of its population. There have been many cases where children who have been affected by these symptoms and disorders can very easily be identified through a very simple health checkup. All of them have been shown to immensely affect their concentration, their growth and their development for a good period of time.

IRON DEFICIENCY ANEMIA

This disorder has slowly become one of the most common diseases that can be found in the systems of Indian children, and especially among Indian girls. This disorder has been known to cause a lot of fatigue among the children, ruin their appetite, and even have very weak immunity against common infections.

VITAMIN D DEFICIENCY

This disorder has directly been able to affect the precise development of bone growth and immunity levels among children, which is primarily thanks to no amount of sunlight as well as distinct lack of proper dietary sources for the body to nurture and grow. This has led to countless children's energy levels being below the expected norm.

WORM INFESTATIONS

This has become quite a normal occurrence among many different rural and semi-urban areas across the country. The process of deworming children is becoming a viable solution that is both acceptable and encouraged by many different medical experts among the field. Stool tests are also a major way of finding out the presence of worms in the body.

THYROID DISORDERS

There have been some cases where children who have not been taking part in any several undiagnosed hypothyroidism which can potentially cause a lot of pain and uncomfortableness among the affected children, which has been able to create a lot of growth among children being stunted and delays in their cognitive and learning abilities. 

OBESITY AND PRE-DIABETES

These medical conditions have become more and more increasingly common over the years, such as a marginal decrease in the amount of physical exercise children partake in daily, as well as consuming food that has lots of artificial flavouring, excessive amounts of oily and fried foods that increase the amount of fat-related food being consumed and the excessive amounts of screentime that are provided to them by their own parents.

HOW OFTEN SHOULD A CHILD TAKE A FULL-BODY PROFILE TEST?

A lot of parents believe that by taking their child to this very profile test at least once, they are fine for the rest of their childhood, which is rarely the case, as this profile test would primarily be based on the age of the patient, their medical history with any major and severe disorders and conditions, as well as the environment they were raised in. Taking all of these factors in mind, a guideline that can help define the necessity of this profile test for each age range is provided down below:-

INFANTS (0-1 YEARS OF AGE)

It is vital for infants to take this profile test at least once a month to get a general idea of their current health and also provide them with vaccinations, while also tracking their overall growth process.

TODDLERS (1-5 YEARS OF AGE)

An annual physical health checkup is mandatory for this age group, while also getting their very own developmental screenings for the benefit of their well-being and overall health.

SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN (6-12 YEARS OF AGE)

This age group requires to have this test profile at least every 12 to around 18 months, with each test containing various different blood tests as well as a screening profile that is entirely dedicated to their vision's development.

TEENS (13-18 YEARS OF AGE)

A checkup once a year is recommended for every one within this particular age group, and will be used for precise monitoring of various different conditions, such as changes found in the hormonal cycle, obesity, anemia and even mental health.

WHAT ARE THE LONG TERM BENEFITS THAT ARE PROVIDED BY THE FULL-BODY PROFILE TEST?

• This profile test has been made to ensure that the child has been undergoing the proper and appropriate developmental cycle of a child their age while also keeping to the milestones that are determined by their ages.
• It has also been able to provide medical experts with the correct trends and allows them to perform the acceptable decisions during emergencies.
• This practice has also been able to promote to children that they are not supposed to fear doctors at all and this helps them to maintain and have a proper relationship that is built on trust, and it has also been able to provide some much needed awareness to the health of their body at a very young age.
• Many different pediatricians have been able to identify signs of anxiety found within their patients during their smallest facial movements, finding various disorders when it comes to learning, and even very subtle behaviour issues whenever they are in an exam.
• Leaving these signs be like they are just normal, everyday actions that the body makes on a daily basis can be a really fatal mistake, as later stages of the same condition can be nigh-impossible to operate on and extremely difficult to detect as well.

WHAT IS THE COST OF THIS TEST AND WHERE CAN I FIND THIS TEST IN INDIA?

A common misconception that many modern parents are able to come up with is that these tests are almost always extremely expensive with very little to provide for the child itself. This is not the case at all, and many various diagnostic labs and hospitals have been able to be very affordable for people and can offer many of them in several packages as well.

• A basic package with the bare-minimum amount of tests and procedures for the Full-Body Profile test will set up back between Rs. 1,200 to Rs. 2,500.
• A comprehensive test package containing various different blood tests will cost Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 6,000.
• The premium test package with additional scans as well as advanced reports will cost from Rs. 6,000 to Rs. 10,000, depending on the location and amount of services that are being provided.

LABORATORIES THAT PROVIDE THE FULL-BODY PROFILE TEST

• Thyrocare
• Apollo Clinics
• SRL Diagnostics
• Max Healthcare
• Mediyaar.com (Which also provides a home sample collection option)

CONCLUSION

Indian parents who are far more concerned about their kid's future in their career, their travel, as well as leisures such as toys and games, should start and focus that energy to their health and well-being as well. With the amount of children falling ill each and every day becoming higher and higher, Indian parents should start taking their child to medical clinics that are able to provide some much needed relief and testing done to determine their overall future physical and mental health.

Restrict leisures such as a sedentary lifestyle and increase the amount of physical exercise and outdoor activities for the child, as these small changes in their daily lifestyle can help wonders for their future selves. By adding many different preventive healthcare options for your child, you will be able to ensure a very secure and healthy path for the child.

Medical Disclaimer – The information that has been written is only to be used for educational purposes. There has been no information presented by this website, be it tests, images and graphics, which should be taken as professional medical advice. Always consult with your doctor regarding any medical advice that may relate to your condition.