PREVENTIVE HEALTH CARE

Young children in Iowa were highly likely to have had a preventive medical visit in the last 12 months (91%), and almost all had a preventive visit in the last 2 years (99%). Almost half (46%) of the parents of young children in Iowa reported remembering having received preventive counseling (i.e., anticipatory guidance)—about subjects such as watching what the child eats or using seatbelts—in the previous year from a health care provider. Reports of preventive counseling were most prevalent in the infant population (59%), and in the highest income group (53%). Only one-third of children in the lowest income category had parents who reported receiving anticipatory guidance.

Parents of 41% of children reported that their child had received a developmental assessment in the past year. This did not vary significantly by age or income category. One in five young children had parents who had been referred to parenting classes such as classes in breastfeeding, child development, and support groups in the past year. Infants were most likely to have had a parent referred to parenting classes (32%), and of those, most (81%) were referred for breastfeeding/lactation support.