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Checkups at 18 Years

[18 Year Old Quiz]

What Can Your Child Do at Eighteen?

  • What you say is still important to him. Therefore, be quick to praise, slow to anger, and constantly reassuring about his positive qualities.
  • Driving is a privilege, not a right, especially if you are still paying for your child's car and/or insurance. Enforce reasonable rules for car usage; your child's life might depend on it.
  • Even if she is working or going to school full time, she should still act kindly toward her family.
  • Acne is primarily caused by inherited tendencies. His diet has no effect on his acne.
  • She will be more independent and home much less often.
  • Teenage periods may be quite painful to your daughter. Ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil, or Nuprin) is a great drug for menstrual cramps, but should be started as soon as or before her period begins to have the best effect.
  • He has the reasoning ability to project far into the future and be concerned about his career, marriage, and family life.

What Can Your Child Eat?

  • She should exercise 3-4 times a week to help control her weight.
  • His daily brushing and flossing of his teeth will prevent decay and gum disease. Flossing is the more important of the two.
  • She should have a balanced diet and should eat breakfast before school. Your example of how to eat is important since she will have the money and freedom to eat at friends' homes or at convenience stores.
  • Discourage frequent snacking by him other than with fruits or vegetables. Do not add extra salt. Have him eat a lot of fiber in cereals, fruits, and vegetables and avoid having red meat and eggs every day.
  • Give her a multivitamin with iron daily if she is a picky eater or has heavy periods. Milk or other calcium-containing foods are important in the teenage years to prevent later osteoporosis (thinning of the bones).

Immunizations

He should be up to date on his immunizations.

Tests to Be Done

  • She may have an analysis of her urine on her checkup. This checks for kidney disease, diabetes, and bladder infections. A hematocrit will be done for her since heavy periods can cause anemia.
  • A tuberculin (TB) skin test may be needed if he has been exposed to someone with TB, a chronic cough, IV drug use, HIV disease (AIDS), recent prison time, time in a developing country, or if required by school or insurance.

Accident Prevention

  • Risk-taking is a common problem among teenagers, especially boys who are trying to assert their masculinity. He needs to have limits set on the use of your car, firearms, electrical equipment, and power tools. Take these privileges away if he is acting irresponsibly.
  • It is best to know where she is at all times. She may complain that you don't trust her, but if you state the request with genuine concern about her welfare, she will probably accept this rule.
  • Tell him to avoid drugs and alcohol and to wait on sexual activity until marriage. Teaching him to act virtuous decrease his chances of drug and alcohol use and sexual activity.
  • Supervise her when she uses electrical or power equipment before letting her use it on her own.
  • He needs to know a safety plan to get out of your house in case of fire.
  • Teach her to swim with others, avoid crossing fast-moving streams, enter lakes feet first, and wear a life jacket while boating.
  • He should wear a safety helmet at all times while riding a bike, motorcycle, or motorized vehicle.

Emotional and Social Development

  • She needs lots of freedom and privacy to learn about life. If you have raised her well, she is likely to maintain similar values as you have.
  • Your role in your child's life is primarily as advisor.
  • She may try to shock you with new ideas and desires. Never attack her personally even if you strongly disagree with her ideas.
  • Encourage him to have good academics, time with family and friends, hobbies and crafts, compassion towards the less fortunate, and positive spiritual involvement. Praise him for his strengths so as to increase his confidence.
  • Encourage her to take an active role in planning and organizing family activities.
  • She should help around the home, if she still lives at home.
  • Extensive television or video games limit family interaction and discourage her creativity.
  • Make every effort to attend her athletic events, plays, recitals, and other special occasions that occur in her life. Few things you do for her will be so important.

Moral Development of Your Child

  • Your positive example model will help him to adopt similar values as yourself.
  • She may be confused by differences between your values and what she views in others, hears on the radio, or sees in TV and movies. Discuss these differences with her.
  • He will learn more from your example than from what you say. If you smoke and drink often, divorce easily, or have sex with many partners, he will likely repeat this lifestyle.
  • Encourage her to avoid R-rated movies that are not life-affirming. Just because she is old enough to see any movie does not mean that she should see any movie.
  • It is philosophically difficult to maintain firm moral standards without some form of religious instruction. Traditional Christianity and Judaism place value on the individual, the healthy family, and compassion towards others. The media and most other world views emphasize selfishness, irresponsible lives, and hunger for possessions. This is one of the main reasons so many children, teenagers, and young adults are confused and in trouble.
  • Encourage her to continue her involvement with church or synagogue even if she is about to go out on her own. Research shows that few activities are more beneficial to her life than this.
  • Do not be afraid to tell him that sex should be delayed until marriage. Studies show that if you encourage him to wait he will likely delay sexual activity.

 

Height ________ percentile ________

Weight ________ percentile ________

Head Circumference __________ percentile ________

 

18-YEAR-OLD QUIZ

These questions, based on research, are meant to teach you facts that will help you as a young adult to have a fuller life.

  1. Marijuana causes chronic users to have decreased ambition (True or False).
  2. Men who cohabit tend to be more likely to have sexual affairs with others, beat their partners, and think date rape is OK under certain circumstances (True or False).
  3. The only real problems that cigarettes cause are cancers in later ages (True or False).
  4. Condoms are very effective in preventing sexually transmitted diseases (True or False).
  5. People who cohabit and later marry tend to have more stable marriages (True or False).
  6. Sexually active teenagers are more successful in school (True or False).
  7. Sexually active teenagers are more likely to use alcohol and drugs (True or False).
  8. People who pray to God are usually happier, healthier, and live longer (True or False).
  9. People who stay married to the same person tend to live longer and make a better salary (True or False).
  10. Divorce causes young children to be more aggressive and do poorer in the early grades of school  (True or False).
  11. Depression and suicide occur more often in kids from divorced families (True or False).
  12. Sex abuse and date rape occur more often in the children of divorce (True or False).
  13. Children of divorce are no more likely to divorce when they grow up than children from nondivorced families (True or False).
  14. Cigarette smoking leads to many types of cancer not just lung cancer (True or False).
  15. Pregnant women who smoke tend to have higher blood pressures and smaller babies (True or False).
  16. Drivers who are drinking or high on drugs are the most common cause of death in teenage and young adults (True or False).
  17. The best way to lose weight is a crash diet to lose 5 pounds a week (True or False).
  18. Most of the time women in national ads have had surgery or have eating disorders such as anorexia (True or False).

Answers and Explanations to Questions

1. True. Marijuana does not cause the same level of serious physical health that hard drugs do, but it does decrease how well one does in school, family life, and employment. 2. True. Research shows that cohabiting men tend to have affairs frequently, commit partner abuse, and  be more accepting of date rape.3. False. Smoking causes smelly clothes and hair, increased colds in the smoker and his friends, stained teeth, and lowers one's finances through this costly habit. 4. False. They are better than nothing, but they have historically had a very poor record for preventing any sexual diseases and pregnancy. 5. False. Couples who cohabit before marriage and then get married are more likely to divorce. The common notion that people cohabit before marriage to discover compatibility is a false one. 6. False. Sexually active teenagers tend to do more poorly in school. 7. True. Sexual activity has a lot higher association with drug and alcohol abuse. 8. True. Teenagers who pray and go to church have many benefits over those who do not. 9. True. Marriage lowers stress, prolongs life, and seems to improve job performance and salary. 10. True. Divorce causes many problems in the children physically, mentally, and socially. 11. True. Children of divorce have greater amounts of mental health problems. 12. True. Sex abuse is 6 times as common with stepfathers compared with biological fathers. Probably because the fathers are less often involved in the lives of children, their daughters are more susceptible to date rape because they have a hunger for male affection, making them vulnerable. 13. False. Unfortunately, children from divorced families are much more likely to divorce and carry the large number of problems they faced down to their children. 14. True. Many cancers are caused by cigarette smoking, not just lung cancer. 15. True. Smoking leads to a large increase in heart disease and strokes (bleeding in the brain) also. 16. True. More than half of the fatal car wrecks are thought to have alcohol or drugs involved. 17. False. Crash diets are unhealthy and usually do not result in permanent weight loss. To lose weight someone needs to lower the calories they eat, have moderate exercise, and lose about 1-2 pounds a week.18. True. Supermodels exercise hours daily, eat starvation diets, and often have been surgically changed.

 

 

The information contained within this website is no substitution for timely medical care.

Feel free to copy the information on this web site and give to friends and family. Contact Dr. Glenn Wood at Carousel Pediatrics (512) 744-6000
We are located at 7112 Ed Bluestein Blvd., #100 - Austin, TX 78723

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