The Adolescent Well Visit
When should you go to the doctor? #EveryAgeEvenTeenage.
Teens need to go to the doctor even when they are healthy. The teen years are important in adopting and maintaining healthy habits, avoiding health damaging behaviors, and preventing disease. When you consider that the teen years are a period of intense growth, physically, socially, and mentally it's understandable that it's also a time full of questions and concerns.
The annual well-visit is more than a physical exam. It is a time for you and your doctor to talk about anything that is troubling either of you. Although you might be embarrassed or afraid to ask, a doctor has the knowledge to answer all of your health questions, no matter what it is. Nothing is off limits. An important part of the well-visit is this conversation about the challenges of adolescence. These issues affect health and wellness!
Call a doctor and schedule a well visit.
Have additional questions about being a teen? Call TEEN Line: 800-443-8336
Resources for Young People
Your Life Iowa
Your Life Iowa is a resource for youth, parents, school personnel, and all Iowans looking for help and information about bullying and youth suicide prevention.
What Do You Throw Away?
This website provides resources and stories related to underage drinking. The Iowa Department of Public Health Substance Abuse’s goal is to combat underage drinking and reduce alcohol related problems.
Stay Classy
This website provides resources on binge drinking and information for setting limits when drinking. The Iowa Department of Public Health Substance Abuse’s goal is to combat binge drinking and reduce alcohol related problems.
What You Can Do About Bullying
StopBullying.gov provides information from various government agencies on what bullying is, what cyberbullying is, who is at risk, and how you can prevent and respond to bullying.
Kids Health Teen Articles
Kids Health provides adolescents with perspective, advice, and comfort about a wide range of physical, emotional, and behavioral issues that affect children and teens.
Take Charge of Your Health: A Guide for Teenagers
This booklet gives you small and doable steps that may help you get healthier.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Office of Population Affairs
The Office of Population Affairs (OPA) promotes health across the reproductive lifespan through innovative, evidence-based adolescent health and family planning programs, services, strategic partnerships, evaluation, and research.
The Science behind Drug Abuse
The NIDA for Teens website is a project of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institutes of Health (NIH). Created for middle and high school students and their teachers, this website provides accurate and timely information for use in and out of the classroom.
Youth.gov
Youth.gov was created by the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs (IWGYP). This website provides facts on youth topics and input from youth voices. The IWGYP promotes the goal of positive, healthy outcomes for youth.
Girl’s Health
Girlshealth.gov offers teen girls reliable, useful information on health and well-being. It cover hundreds of topics, from getting your period to stopping bullies, and from getting fit to preventing sexually transmitted infections.
Palo Alto Medical Foundation: Teen Health
This website is developed by a team of doctors, social workers, educators, volunteers, and teenagers, our mission is to help educate teens and their parents on important health issues.
Drug Free America
Provides parents and youth information about prevention, intervention, and treatment for drugs and alcohol.
Back to Adolescent Health