There is one cause that I am extremely passionate about and will be until the day I die. Blood pressure awareness for children and the need for increased screenings.  It is still baffling to me that in this day and time our children still do not receive routine bp screens by all healthcare facilities beginning at age 3.  This is such an important piece of the medical puzzle.

 

Facts from the National Association of State Boards of Education regarding health policies for each of the 50 states. There are three main health screenings that could possibly be required for a child to start school:

(1) hearing/vision

(2) chronic health conditions

(3) body mass index screening

 

Most states have at least one of the three screenings as a requirement before a child enters school or at a specified interval. It is disappointing to learn that the following states do not require any of the three screenings: Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, New Hampshire, South Dakota, and Vermont.

This means that a child who does not get blood pressure screens as part of well child visits would not even have the opportunity to have a bp taken as a requirement for part of a screening to start school through a chronic health condition screen or BMI screen.

I would like to point out that one of the states that stood out for a very proactive approach in keeping their kids healthy was Rhode Island. If you are a parent with a child in any of the above listed states and can tell us about any other required medical/health exam for school aged children we would love to hear it.