The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #63677

Elizabeth Holzhauser, MPH CHES¹, Patti Herring, PhD, RN¹, K. Dickson-Ivany¹, Susan Kang², and Charles Letcher, MD¹. (1) School of Public Health, Department of Health Promotion and Education, Loma Linda University, School of Public Health, Nichol Hall rm 1511, Loma Linda, CA 92350, 909-887-1040, elizholz@hotmail.com, (2) Department of Health Promotion & Education, Loma Linda University, School of Public Health, Loma Linda, CA 92350

Heredity, disease, or refractive errors can significantly diminish or permanently damage the quality of human sight. Diabetes is a disease of growing importance and its incidence is rising at alarming rates in the US. Possibly what is most disturbing is the increase of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes in children. This increase in diabetes is posing unique problems for the school system, school nurses, parents, teachers, and of course the children who have to live with this disease. Persons with Type 1 diabetes carry a disproportionate risk for developing diabetic retinopathy. Children depend on good vision in order to successfully interact and physically navigate with full confidence within their environment. The quality of sight related information received by the brain is vital to proper physical and cognitive development. Colton Joint Unified School District has 23 known Insulin dependent diabetic students. Fifteen of these children are between 11 and 17 years of age. To reduce the future incidence of visual impairment due to diabetic retinopathy a special pediatric diabetic, health promotion/education demonstration project was designed by graduate students from Loma Linda University School of Public Health. In keeping with the Healthy Vision 2010 objectives, one unit of this demonstration project will include information on diabetic retinopathy as appropriate for school-age children; the other program units will concentrate on behavior and lifestyle modifications. Evaluation will be preformed using pre-posttest with qualitative and quantitative data.

Learning Objectives:

• By the end of the presentation the participant will be able to:
• recite the definition of type 1 (juvenile) diabetes; describe the risk factors for diabetic retinopathy; describe measures for preventing premature vision loss due to diabetic retinopathy

Keywords: Diabetes, Vision Care

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.