Health supervision visits of very young children: Time addressing 3 key topics

Objective. To describe the time and actions on 3 key health topics during health supervision (HS) visits of children aged 0 to 1 years. Method. HS visits were observed at 5 offices. Parents provided demographics and childrens measurements were obtained. Using special computer software, visits were observed for frequency and time for growth measurements, charting and interpretations, and for discussions on growth, diet, and safety. Results. A total of 128 visits were analyzed. Almost all children had weight (100%) and height (98%) measured and >80% had weight-for-age and height-for-age plotted. Growth interpretation (weight-for-height) was determined for 1 child. Nearly all visits included discussions of growth (88%), diet (97%), and safety (84%). When a topic was addressed, median times were as follows: growth, 9 seconds; diet, 42 seconds; and safety, 22 seconds. Median time on all 3 topics was 86 seconds. Conclusion. Growth, diet, and safety are frequently, but briefly, discussed at HS visits of young children.