Pediatricians Advise: Regularly Check Children For Motor Development Delays

In a new clinical report, an American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) panel said that doctors should regularly screen babies and young children for delays in motor skill development - include trouble sitting, standing and speaking - at well-child visits, as diagnosing and treating these problems early on may ultimately improve a child's outlook and provide parents with additional support, Reuters Health reports.

The report, which was recently published in the June 2013 print issue of Pediatrics, said both parents and their pediatricians should be involved in looking for signs of developmental motor skills delays, and it is important for pediatricians to address the concerns of the child's family.

"Identifying children with delays and motor abnormalities, theoretically or hopefully would set them on a better trajectory," said Meghann Lloyd, who studies motor development at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology in Oshawa, Canada. Lloyd was not involved in the new report, but called it "a really big step forward for the field."

Dr. Garey Noritz and colleagues on the AAP's neuromotor screening expert panel explained the skills that children should have developed by office visits at ages 9, 18, 30, and 48 months. For instance, a child at 9 months should be able to roll on both sides as well as sit well without support and grasp objects, and at 18 months, a child should be able to walk, sit and stand on its own.

Noritz said to Reuters Health that the AAP "recognized that we as a profession weren't necessarily doing a good job screening for motor problems," and listed cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophy as two of the most common motor-related diseases that could both be determined and treated early on.

"We're hoping that people can get to a specialist more quickly and thus get diagnosed more quickly, but that primary care clinicians at the same time as they're looking for a diagnosis, will refer (kids) to therapy," he said. 

Lloyd said to Reuters Health that there is a normal variation for how children develop, and parents should not be overly concerned if a child is a couple months late to walk, for example. But longer delays or combinations of multiple motor problems are a good reason to visit the pediatrician.

"Other types of movements that don't seem right, like a tremor or a rigidity or some sort of repetitive motor movement would be another red flag for me," Lloyd said.

The panel said that during well-child visits, pediatricians should ask parents open-ended questions about their child's development, as well as watch the child play for signs of delays and loss of motor skills. The panel also recommended that doctors examine a child's head size and and look at the child's muscle tone, reflexes and eye movements.

Lloyd said that regardless of other treatment or whether or not a child is delayed, parents can bring their kids to early movement programs such as Kindergym to promote the development of their motor skills, as having poor motor skills "sets you on a trajectory for low levels of physical activity, which of course is related to obesity."

"The prevention of these delays or the promotion of motor ability can actually impact your health for your lifespan," Lloyd said.