Posted by Sarah Zieth on Wed, Nov 30, 2011 @ 07:41 AM
MyPlate vs. MyPyramid
In June 2011, MyPlate officially replaced MyPyramid for visually representing the USDA’s Dietary Guidelines. MyPlate is designed to be easier and more practical to follow for consumers trying to eat a balanced diet.
Key differences:
- Less emphasis on grains, but still a large emphasis on whole grains – more focus is now fruits and vegetables which take up half the plate.
- Oils and sugar are no longer mentioned
- Focus on plate is PORTION size vs. SERVING size, which is easier for consumers to follow
- Because protein comes in a variety of sources like meat, eggs, dairy, nuts, seeds, and beans; protein is no longer identified as a specific food group (i.e. meat)
- Emphasis on the following guidelines1:
- “Enjoy your food, but eat less”
- “Avoid oversized portions”
- “Make half your plate fruits and vegetables”
- “Make at least half your grains whole grains”
- “Switch to fat-free or low-fat (1%) milk”
- “Compare sodium in foods like soup, bread and frozen meals – and choose the foods with lower numbers”
- “Drink water instead of sugary drinks”
The new guidelines also address physical activity and emphasize choosing activities that you enjoy.
5 Websites for New MyPlate Materials 
- www.chooseMyPlate.gov – You’ll find coloring sheets, recipes, sample menus and more
- The Dairy Council of CA – Kids (ages 4-8) can play the free MyPlate Match Game online!
- Nourish Interactive – A wealth of free printable and interactive games for children based on MyPlate
- Super Kids Nutrition – Fun, free nutrition activities for kids by age and also in Spanish
- School Health – Has an entire new category MyPlate products including a bulletin board kit, videos/DVDs, stickers, posters and banners
Childhood Obesity and Schools
According to the CDC, approximately 17% or 12.5 million children (ages 2-19) are classified as obese2. That is nearly triple the rate of childhood obesity in 1980. The CDC recognizes that schools play an important role in improving the dietary and physical activities of children. In response, they have developed 9 guidelines, complete with implementation strategies to help schools achieve results.
Download the CDC’s School Health Guidelines to Promote Health Eating and Physical Activity>>
What are your thoughts regarding the new MyPlate Icon? Do you think it will be easier to teach and for children to use? Please share your thoughts below in the comments section…
References:
1 U.S. Department of Agriculture. ChooseMyPlate.gov Website. Washington, DC. Selected Messages for Consumers. http://www.choosemyplate.gov/guidelines/SelectedMessages.pdf. Accessed November 17, 2011.
2 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC.gov Website. Atlanta, GA. Data and Statistics. http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/childhood/data.html. Accessed November 17, 2011.
Posted by Sarah Zieth on Tue, Nov 15, 2011 @ 10:22 AM
According to Dr. P. Kay Nottingham Chaplin, Ed.D., “School Nurses and others involved in preschool vision screening, including Head Start staff, can help detect amblyopia early to help reduce the risk of impaired vision in the non-amblyopic eye in older adulthood.”
Introduction
It’s easy to consider the immediate impact that vision screening and treatment can have on a child and learning, but new research gives us another reason to screen for Amblyopia: better lifelong vision. According to recent research, Amblyopia nearly doubles the lifetime risk of losing vision in the better-seeing eye, and people with Amblyopia tend to live with vision loss longer than people without.
What is Amblyopia (Lazy Eye)?
From Loudon, Rook, Nassif, Piskun, and Hunter (2011):
Amblyopia, often referred to in lay terms as “lazy eye,” is preventable vision loss in a structurally normal eye that occurs in approximately 3%-5% of the United States population.1 It can be caused by misalignment of the eyes (strabismus), asymmetry of refractive error (anisometropia), or visual deprivation (occlusion, e.g., congenital cataract). Amblyopia develops during the maturation of the visual system, generally thought to take place up to 6 years of age.2 Early detection and treatment of amblyopia improves the likelihood that vision can be restored to normal. (p. 5043).
Why Early Detection and Treatment?
As mentioned above, we want to help ensure young children are prepared to learn at school. But we also want to reduce the risk of visual impairment in the non-amblyopic eye as the child enters into older adulthood where they may develop older adulthood eye disease such as age-related macular degeneration, cataract, and glaucoma.
What the Research Tells Us
Looking at 5,220 participants in the Rotterdam Study, with a mean age of 67.4 (range 55-95) years, van Leeuwen et al. (2007) found that the estimated lifetime risk of losing vision in the non-amblyopic eye (the better-seeing eye) was nearly double that of individuals without amblyopia. The Rotterdam Study, involving inhabitants of a middle-class suburb of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, started in 1990 as a population-based, prospective cohort study of the frequency and causes of common cardiovascular, locomotor, neurological, and ophthalmological diseases.
Amblyopia was diagnosed in 192 of the 5,220 participants for a prevalence of 3.7%. The estimated lifetime risk of impaired vision was 18% for individuals with amblyopia and 10% for individuals without amblyopia, and the expected period living with visual impairment was on average extended from 0.7 to 1.3 years (van Leeuwen et al., 2007).
Read Dr. Kay’s original blog here >> http://blog.good-lite.com/post.cfm/recent-research-risk-of-impaired-non-amblyopic-eye
Request a FREE vision screening consultation today and receive:
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Training on the proper use and maintenance of your vision screening equipment
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Help selecting the best equipment for your population
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Access to our highly trained, certified technicians
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Access to our national grant opportunity database
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Free Download "5 Eye Chart Recommendations by a Vision Screening Expert"
References:
1Multi-Ethic Pediatric Eye Disease Study (MEPEDS) Group. (2009). Prevalence and causes of visual impairment in African-American and Hispanic preschool children: The multi-ethnic pediatric eye disease study. Ophthalmology, 116(10), 1990-2000. PubMed Abstract
2Wiesel, T. N., & Hubel, D. H. (1963). Effects of visual deprivation on morphology and physiology of cells in the cats lateral geniculate body. Journal of Neurophysiology, 26, 978-993. PubMed Abstract
Loudon, S. E., Rook, C. A., Nassif, D. S., Piskun, N. V., & Hunter, D. G. (2011). Rapid, high-accuracy detection of strabismus and amblyopia using the pediatric vision scanner. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, 52(8), 5043-5048. PubMed Abstract
van Leeuwen, R., Eijkemans, M. J., Vingerling, J. R., Hofman, A., de Jong, P. T., & Simonsz, H. J. (2007). Risk of bilateral visual impairment in individuals with amblyopia: The Rotterdam study. British Journal of Ophthalmology, 91(11), 1450-1451. PubMed Abstract
Posted by Jessica Wetzel on Tue, Nov 08, 2011 @ 01:01 PM
Read these step-by-step instructions to help decide if using the Welch Allyn OAE Hearing Screener will benefit your hearing screening program.
The Welch Allyn OAE Hearing Screener produces information about a patient’s auditory system using Otoacoustic emissions. Otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) are sounds given off by the inner ear when the cochlea is stimulated by a sound. By inserting a small probe into the ear canal, these nearly inaudible sounds can be measured and results can be viewed and analyzed.
OAE hearing screeners are helpful for certain hearing screening programs because minimal patient preparation is required.
OAEs can be recorded on individuals who are:
However, the patient must be able to cooperate by allowing for insertion of the ear tip into the ear canal.
Tips for a Quick Test:
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Create a quiet testing environment. Because very soft sounds are measured by the probe in the patient’s ear canal, OAE tests are fastest when the background noise is low. Take measures to test in a quiet room.
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Verify the ear canal is clear of earwax.
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Use the largest ear tip that will fit into the patient’s ear canal. An ear tip that is too small will result in low stimulus intensity and may cause a refer result. If an ear tip stays in place without holding it, it is in securely.
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Use the probe cord. Clipping the probe cord on the patient’s clothing, bassinet, or back of shirt will reduce the chance that the probe cord will pull the probe out of the ear or that a small child will grab the cable and pull the probe out of the ear.
What the Patient Will Experience:
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An ear tip will be inserted into the ear canal.
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The patient will hear a series of sounds for a few seconds or up to a minute.
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The test will be fastest and most accurate if the patient remains quiet throughout the entire test, which will last no longer than one minute. This means no talking, minimal movement, and the patient should not respond to the sounds in any way.
Tips for System Operation:
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The front label of the Welch Allyn OAE Hearing Screener incorporates 5 buttons that the user presses to turn on or rest the box and move through the possible program operations.
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The battery will last for approximately three hours of continuous testing; however, the unit also uses an AC charger. There is also an auto OFF feature that will help conserve battery power after 180 seconds of dormancy.
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Dispose of probe tip after each patient.
Learn more about the Welch Allyn OAE Hearing Screener >>
Request a FREE Hearing Screening Consultation >>
Posted by Jessica Wetzel on Tue, Nov 01, 2011 @ 09:50 AM
EroScan OAE General Questions:
Q: How can the EroScan save me time?
A: Otoacoustic emissions requires no response from the patient. This is a definite advantage for children with physical disabilities, young children, and children where English is a 2nd language.
Q: How does the EroScan work?
A: The digital signal processor in the instrument generates two pure tones (f1 and f2) through a digital-to-analog converter. These tones are presented to the ear via speaker tubes located in the probe. A microphone in the probe measures the sound in the ear canal and transmits the signal to the analog-to-digital converter. The digital signal processor then filters the signal into narrow frequency bands, and detects any emissions present. The level of these emissions can be compared with the average level of the noise in adjacent frequency bands. An emission is judged to be present when the level in the emission band is 5 db or more above the level in adjacent bands. (The actual pass-fail criterion used in the EroScan instrument uses a more sophisticated statistical test).
Q: I see different units listed and one is more expensive than the other. What is the difference?
A: The screener has a lower price because it has set test protocols in the unit that cannot be altered by the user. The standard unit allows the user to modify the test protocol allowing for the testing of more frequencies at different levels.
Q: What are the reimbursement codes for the unit?
A: OAE screening is billed with CPT code 92587 – Screening. Diagnostic OAE testing is billed with CPT code 92588 – Comprehensive.
Operation:
Q: What training is required?
A: Anyone can learn to use the product, however, there is a technique for proper screening, and practice is required to do the technique properly. A training video comes with each unit and will help you to learn the technique.
Q: When should I use the remote probe?
A: The remote probe is just as effective when testing but gives you a bigger range of motion. It is the preferred method for testing because it allows head movement and is more comfortable – especially for newborns.
Q: What does a REFER result mean?
A: Test results are either PASS or REFER. REFER means that the patient did not pass the test. This could be due to many reasons including ear wax, middle ear fluid, noise, improper test technique or hearing loss. All REFER results should be immediately repeated. If the test result continues to be REFER, the patient should be screened using pure-tone testing and tympanometry. If passing results are not achieved on these tests, then a referral to an audiologist and/or physician should be made.
Who Can Be Screened:
Q: What ages can be screened with the EroScan?
A: Newborn to adult.
Q: Can I test patients with pressure equalization (PE) tubes?
A: Patients with PE tubes can be tested by bypassing the auto-start function of the unit. This is accomplished by first inserting the EroScan with an appropriate ear tip into the ear canal and obtaining a proper seal. To disable the auto-start, at the main menu select the ear to be tested by holding down the right or left arrow keys for 3 seconds until the green "test" light turns off. Once the key is released, the EroScan will calibrate and test as before.
Q: If a patient’s ear is impacted with wax can I still screen her?
A: No, impacted wax will yield a refer result. In addition, any significant amount of wax can potentially cause a refer result.
Q: Can a patient with otitis media still be screened with the EroScan unit?
A: Middle ear fluid will yield a refer result. This should then be followed up with pure tone testing and tympanometry so you can determine if there is otitis media based on the flat tympanogram.
Maintenance:
Q: Does the unit need to be calibrated?
A: The instrument requires no regular maintenance beyond routine cleaning and battery replacement.
Q: How do I clean my EroScan unit?
A: The instrument and its accessories may be wiped clean with a damp cloth using a mild antiseptic solution (e.g. cetylcide). Take care not to put excessive pressure on the clear display window or allow any utensil to puncture the display window or keypad. Do not allow any fluid to enter the device. Do not immerse the instrument in fluids or attempt to sterilize the instrument or any or its accessories. Probe tips should be replaced when they become clogged. Replacement probe tips are included with the instrument. Do not attempt to clean the probe tips, they are disposable and must be replaced when they become clogged.
View all FAQ's, Technical Specs, Operator's Manual and More on the Maico EroScan OAE Hearing Screener >>