Healthy Kids

TEENS
Teens should catch up on any missing immunizations. Some states require the meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MCV4) for college students. Currently, demand for Sanofi-Pasteur's vaccine exceeds supply. So the CDC is recommending that high school students and college freshmen living in dorms get the vaccine.

During the teenage years, doctors also like to make sure their patients are maintaining healthy habits and avoiding risky behavior.  (Some doctors specialize in adolescent medicine .)  Dr. Cynthia Mears, a board-certified adolescent medicine specialist at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago and at Northwestern University, says she asks teens about smoking, sex and drinking. "You're trying to get kids to think about what they do and to be responsible for their health," she says. That's good practice for adulthood, when their health will be in their own hands.

© 2006