France is modifying its famous health record. From 2025, this will be updated with numerous tips.
A new health record for children will come into force on January 1, introducing new advice for parents, particularly on the use of screens and a new compulsory exam at the age of six.
In this revised version, the twenty mandatory health examinations are all detailed, the General Directorate of Health (DGS) indicated in a press release on Friday.
For each age, benchmarks are offered to parents to situate the child in his or her development (social, cognitive, motor), with prevention messages regarding “scientific and societal developments”.
Many tips added
They will thus find advice for raise their child without violencetables on the introduction of foods, advice on sleep or benchmarks for detecting neurodevelopmental disorders.
The new health record now includes questions concerning practicing physical activity until adolescence as well as exposure and then use of screens, “in a process of identification by the health professional of the misuse of screens”.
As a teenager, questions around the identification of endometriosis or the psycho-affective state are also on the program.
In terms of medical surveillance, a new examination is made compulsory at the age of 6 for “strengthen prevention when the majority of children enter primary school, particularly in terms of sensory screening and developmental disorders”.
This control will also be an opportunity “to achieve the reminder of vaccination against whooping cough, diphtheria, tetanus and poliomyelitis recommended at 6 years old”according to the DGS.
During the child’s 1st year exams, prevention messages are sent to parents concerning sleeping position, unexpected infant death and shaken baby syndrome, lists the DGS.
The healthcare professional will also provide information on the “risks of postpartum depression for the mother and on the importance of parent/child interactions”.
The part of the notebook reserved for caregivers now includes information on risk factors for vision disorders and advice on identifying a neurodevelopmental disorder.
For vaccinations, modifications follow the new obligations and recommendations. The copy of these two double pages serves as a vaccination certificate, particularly for admission to a community of children.
The dematerialization of the health record should be integrated, by the end of 2026, into the digital health space (My Health Space) for children, underlines the DGS.
