Any Parent Knows That Choosing A Pediatric Doctor Is An Extremely Important Decision. You Should Feel Confident That Your Child's Pediatrician Is A Good Diagnostician Who Listens To Your Concerns And Can Treat Your Child With The Utmost Care And Seni.

Most children in the U.S. (around 70%) are generally healthy and require infrequent pediatrics to maintain their overall health. Around 20% have mild to moderate chronic conditions, such as regular ear infections and asthma, that require further specialized attention. The remaining 10% have serious chronic problems, such as congenital heart conditions or juvenile diabetes, which may require intensive management throughout their lives.

What Is a Pediatrician?

Symptoms for diseases and conditions can manifest very differently in children and adults, and some treatments are unsuitable for people under the age of 18. Pediatricians are fully trained medical physicians who have undertaken further training to become child specialists. They diagnose and treat physical, behavioral, and mental health issues in babies, children, adolescents, and young adults up to the age of 18.

In the first 2-5 years of your child’s life, frequent visits to your pediatrician are particularly important. As your child is developing so rapidly, pediatric physicians:

Must conduct routine physical exams to check that he or she is meeting all the physical, behavioral, and skills milestones expected for his or her age.

Are available to answer any questions or concerns that you might have. Parents play an important role in noticing symptoms.

Refer you to a specialist in the case that your child should require expert care.

Vaccinate your child against serious and life-threatening diseases.

Vaccinations

Routine vaccinations are essential to protect your child and the wider community from highly infectious and fatal diseases.

As with any medical procedure, there are potential side effects. In the case of vaccines, the most common side effects are redness, swelling, and irritation at the site of the injection. Less frequently, children might develop a slight fever. Extremely infrequently, there are more serious side effects.4 Exact information and statistics should be freely available at your pediatric clinic, and your pediatrician should openly discuss with you any concerns you may have.

Many childhood immunizations have undergone rigorous testing by the FDA to ensure that the benefits far outweigh the possible risks. Misinformation has been widely spread, and may be putting children’s lives at risk.

For example, cases of measles, a highly contagious and potentially fatal infection in infants, have soared in the U.S. in recent years. Once considered eliminated from the U.S. through routine vaccinations, there have been 1,256 diagnoses between January and October, 2019.

Pediatric Care In The Bronx

There are certain conditions that are particularly prevalent in the Bronx.

Asthma

  • The rate of asthma hospitalization for children in the Bronx is 70% higher than the rest of New York City, and a startling 700% higher than the rest of New York State.
  • One in five children in some neighborhoods in the Bronx have asthma.
  • Pollution, second-hand exposure to tobacco smoke, and mold all increase susceptibility to the condition.

Obesity

  • Nearly 25% of children in public elementary schools in the Bronx are obese, and nearly 40% are overweight or obese.
  • In public high schools in the Bronx, around 15% of students are obese and over 30% are overweight or obese.
  • Type 2 diabetes, once a condition almost exclusively diagnosed in adults, is now increasingly affecting children.
  • Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is the most common liver disease in children and is also linked to obesity.
  • Bone and joint problems, skin infections, fatigue, and precocious (early-onset) puberty are also increasingly diagnosed in obese children.

Here At Westchester Medical Healthcare

We refer requests for pediatric care to Dr. Vinay Shah, MD, an independent pediatrician who has an office at Parkchester Medical.

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