School-age health supervision — formative SAQs

SAQ 1 (10)

A 7-year-old is brought “only for the school form.” Caregivers report homework battles. Nightly sleep is about 8 hours with a tablet in bed. Vision has not been checked for two years. BMI is rising across two centile channels. ^[1]

1. Define school-age health supervision and contrast it with form-only care. (2) ^[1]
2. List universal versus selective tasks for this visit. (3) ^[1]
3. Outline your stepwise management of sleep, vision, BMI talk and learning concern. (3) ^{[8] [5] [3]}
4. State two red flags that would convert this visit to acute care. (2) ^[12]

Model answer

Definition. Structured medical-home preventive care in primary-school years covering growth, senses, oral health, sleep, activity, mood, safety and school function — not a signature alone. ^[1]

Universal vs selective. Universal: child voice history, height/weight/BMI trend, BP, exam, vision pathway, dental/fluoride advice, immunisation check, anticipatory guidance. Selective here: deeper learning/ADHD evaluation steps, possible food-insecurity screen, earlier BMI follow-up; audiology if hearing risk. ^{[1] [5]}

Stepwise plan. Fix sleep opportunity toward AASM school-age needs and remove bedtime screens; arrange vision assessment; discuss BMI with non-stigmatising family-based goals; gather teacher information before ADHD labelling. ^{[8] [3] [16] [5]}

Acute conversion examples. Suicidal ideation; abuse disclosure; symptomatic severe hypertension; respiratory distress; sports cardiac red flags. ^{[12] [15]}