A Healthy Start

Do your kids have their shots? If not, you should take them to an American Red Cross-sponsored “Kids Care Fair” this weekend in Oxnard or Simi Valley.

California requires that children entering kindergarten through 12th grade present proof of immunization against polio, diphtheria, measles, mumps, rubella and hepatitis B.

Even admission to state-subsidized child care for kids as young as 2 months requires immunization for polio. And next July, kids entering seventh grade in any school, public or private, will be required to have had hepatitis shots. Since these are given as a sequence of injections over several months, parents are advised to begin the process this summer.

The American Red Cross sponsors free immunization against these diseases every summer at locations throughout Southern California, including two in Ventura County.

Taking place Saturday in Oxnard and Sunday in Simi Valley, the programs also offer six free health screenings for children under 18, including height and weight measurement, blood pressure and dental care evaluations, a family health-care review and vision testing.

Screenings will be conducted in Spanish or English. Referral information about follow-up exams will also be available in both languages.

The family health-care review is one of the most valuable components of this annual program because families may be directed to free or low-cost resources for ongoing health-care needs, including sources of low-cost health insurance.

A feature that my appeal to younger kids at the Simi Valley fair is a “Teddy Bear Clinic,” where the staff will repair rips and replace button-eyes.

Simi Valley Hospital staffer Irene Jarett says of the health screenings, “The earlier you detect a problem of any nature, the greater the success in improving the situation.”

Jarett, a speech and hearing specialist, will conduct some of Sunday’s screenings, available both days at the Simi Valley site.

Added Jarett, “The whole purpose of the screening process--hearing, vision or other--is to determine whether further testing is necessary. When I conduct an audiometer test and tell parents it looks like the child is having difficulty with volume or pitch, I provide them with information about resources for follow-up exams. It could be that further tests indicate they don’t have a problem.”

But when it comes to hearing, she says, it’s important to get kids tested before they begin school, because of the importance of hearing in shaping speech and other communication and learning patterns.

“In their early years of growing,” Jarett says, “they’re going through the greatest changes, including the possible positive changes [as a result of medical and other expert intervention], influencing their acquisition of speech and language facility.”

BE THERE

Kids Care Fair, Saturday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., New Pal Center (old Oxnard High School building), 5th and K streets, Oxnard, (805) 339-2234 or (800) 870-5434. Also Sunday, noon-4 p.m., Boys & Girls Club of Simi Valley, 2850 Lemon Drive, adjacent to Rancho Tapo Park. Call Simi Valley Hospital, (805) 583-8971.