Objective 28-4
Impairment in Children and Adolescents (age 17 and under)
This objective was the focus of Healthy Vision Month 2003.
Reduce blindness and visual impairment in children and adolescents aged 17 years and under.
Myopia, or nearsightedness, is a common condition in which images of distant objects are focused in front of, instead of on, the retina. Myopia occurs in approximately 25 percent of the U.S. population.9 In children, myopia is found in 2 percent of those entering first grade and 15 percent of those entering high school.
Data Source
Target: 18 per 1,000 children and adolescents aged 17 years and under.
Baseline: 24 per 1,000 children and adolescents aged 17 years and under were blind or visually impaired in 1997.
Target setting method: Better than the best.
Data source: National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).
Operational definition: This is a valuable tool that allows individuals to set measurable Healthy Vision objectives for their own communities.
Citation: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Tracking Healthy People 2010. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, November 2000.
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Children and Adolescents Aged
17 Years and Under, 1997
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Blindness and Visual
Impairment
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Rate per 1,000
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24 |
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Race and ethnicity
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American Indian or Alaska Native
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DSU
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Asian or Pacific Islander
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DSU
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Asian
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DSU
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Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander
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DSU
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Black or African American
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26
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White
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24
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2 or more races
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DNC
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American Indian or Alaska Native; White
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DNC
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Black or African American; White
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DNC
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Hispanic or Latino
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21
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Not Hispanic or Latino
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25
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Black or African American
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27
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White
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25
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Gender
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Female
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24
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Male
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25
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Family income level
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Poor
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34
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Near poor
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28
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Middle/high income
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20
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Disability status
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Persons with disabilities
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92
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Persons without disabilities
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19
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Legend:
DNA = Data have not been analyzed.
DNC = Data for specific population are not collected.
DSU = Data do not meet the criteria for statistical reliability, data quality, or confidentiality.
Organizational Resources
If your organization has materials and/or programs to support this objective, contact Linda Huss lmh@nei.nih.gov.
American Academy of Ophthalmology
655 Beach Street
San Francisco, CA 94109-1336
Phone: (415) 561-8500
Fax: (415) 561-8533
Website: www.aao.org
Contact: Georgia Alward, (415) 447-0258, eyemd@aao.org
Description
The American Academy of Ophthalmology is the largest international membership association of Eye M.D.s. EyeM.D.s are ophthalmologists, medical
doctors or doctors of osteopathy who provide comprehensive eye care, including
medical, surgical and optical care. More than 90 percent of practicing U.S. Eye
M.D.s are Academy members, and the Academy has more than 7,000 international
members. Academy members are committed to responding compassionately to their
patients' individual needs and to advancing the highest standards of eye care.
Materials for Children and Adolescents
AAO's Patient Education Department has printed material on the following topics:
- Amblyopia
- Strabismus
- Pseudostrabismus
- Ptosis in Children
- Eye Safety for Children
- Learning Disabilities
- Video Display Terminals and the Eye.
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American Optometric Association
1505 Prince Street, Suite 300
Alexandria, VA 22314
Phone: (703) 739-9200
Toll Free: 1-800-365-2219 X 4284
Website: www.aoa.org
Contact: John C. Whitener, OD, MPH, JCWhitener-OD@aoa.org
Description
The American Optometric Association (AOA) seeks to advance the availability and accessibility of quality eye, vision, and related health care; to represent the profession of optometry; to enhance and promote the independent and ethical decision making of its members; and to assist doctors of optometry in practicing successfully in accordance with the highest standards of patient care. The AOA supports year-round programming to educate Americans about their vision and eye health and encourages people to take steps to preserve and protect their vision.
Materials and Programs for Children and Adolescents
- Consumer pamphlets are available through the AOA Order Department at 1-800-262-2210.
- Answers to Your Questions About Lazy Eye
- Answers to Your Questions About Nearsightedness
- Answers to Your Questions About Farsightedness
- Answers to Your Questions About 20/20 Vision
- Answers to Your Questions About Eye Coordination
- Answers to Your Questions About Vision Therapy
- Answers to Your Questions About Strabismus
- Answers to Your Questions About Bifocals for Children
- Answers to Your Questions About Conjunctivitis
- Your Preschool Child's Eyes
- A Look at Reading and Vision
- Your School-Age Child's Eyes
- A Teacher's Guide to Vision Problems
- Toys, Games, and your Child's Vision.
- Children's Vision Eye Chart
This laminated chart is designed to help teach children about vision.
- Seymour Safely Program
For more than 20 years, the Seymour Safely program has visited schools, camps, and day care centers as well as optometric offices across America to help children (and their parents) learn proper eye care habits.
- Spanish language materials
- "Ojos por el Mundo," is a comic book in the style of libritos, which appeals to Spanish- speaking children and teens.
- "La vista de los niños," is a fact sheet describing children's vision problems.
- "El camino de la vista," is a diagram of the eye with the major parts labeled in Spanish.
- "Pediatric Eye and Vision Examination: Optometric Clinical Practice Guidelines 2nd edition, 2002," contains professional guidelines for the examination of school-age children.
- Back-in-School Program A kit developed for use by members of the American Optometric Association that includes the "Back-in-School" Eye Test--a continuation of the highly successful "Great American Eye Test" for children-- and many fact sheets including "Understanding the Difference Between Vision Screenings and Vision Exams."
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Association for Education and Rehabilitation for the Blind and Visually Impaired
4600 Duke Street, Suite 430
P.O. Box 22397
Alexandria, VA 22304
Toll-free: 1-877-492-2708
Phone: (703) 823-9690
Fax: (703) 823-9695
Website: www.aerbvi.org/
Description
The mission of the Association for Education and Rehabilitation for the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER) is to develop and promote professional excellence through support of those who provide services to people with visual impairments. AER organizes professional conferences and seminars, publishes journals and publications, provides certification of professionals, and promotes legislative efforts for vision issues.
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Glaucoma Research Foundation
490 Post Street, Suite 1427
San Francisco, CA 94102
Toll-free: 1-800-826-6693
Phone: (415) 986-3162
Fax: (415) 986-3763
Website: www.glaucoma.org/
E-mail: info@glaucoma.org
Description
Glaucoma Research Foundation (GRF) is a national, nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the sight and independence of people with glaucoma. GRF's ultimate goal is to find a cure. GRF offers education and support for people with glaucoma and their families through Gleams, a bimonthly newsletter filled with regular research updates, treatment news, success stories, and more.
Materials for Children and Adolescents
Childhood Glaucoma: Reference guide for parents and professionals involved in the care of children with glaucoma,; 36 pages.
Cost: Free for individual order; or bulk order available with shipping and handling fee of $25 per 10 books.
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Illinois Society for the Prevention of Blindness
407 South Dearborn Street, Suite 1000
Chicago, IL 60605-1117
Toll-free: 1-800-433-4772
Phone: (312) 922-8710
Fax: (312) 922-8713
Website: www.eyehealthillinois.org/
E-mail: ispb@aol.com
Description
The primary mission of the Illinois Society for the Prevention of Blindness (ISPB) is to reduce preventable causes of blindness by educating the public on the necessity for and the methods of preventing blindness. ISPB accomplishes this mission for Illinois by taking a leadership role in the development and implementation of innovative programs and activities involving the preservation and enhancement of vision, including education and research activities.
ISPB participates in statewide community health fairs; sponsors professional education for ophthalmologists and optometrists; presents 4th fourth grade and high school programs on eye safety throughout Illinois; funds starter research grants at major Illinois medical institutions; provides needy children with eyeglasses and low vision aids; operates the Illinois Eye Injury Registry, tracking serious eye injuries; helps set policy as a member of the State's Diabetes Advisory Coalition and Senate Task Force on Fireworks; and partners with the Illinois Department of Public Health and Illinois Department of Human Service on vision screening and other ocular issues.
Materials for Children and Adolescents
- Amblyopia/Strabismus
- Eye Safety at Home-Work-Play
- Don't Be Blinded By the Dangers of Fireworks (letter-sized posters also available)
- Vocational Eye Safety Bookmark
- The Visionary (ISPB newsletter) distributed twice a year
- Website: www.eyehealthillinois.org with sight-saving information on eye issues, including tapes of ISPB live call-in television shows through the Chicago Access Network Television (CAN TV).
Materials are available at no cost by contacting the ISPB through telephone, e-mail, or Web Website.
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InFOCUS
327 Tealwood Drive
Houston, TX 77024
Phone: (281) 397-9162
Fax: (281) 440-7273
Website: www.infocusonline.org/
E-mail: info@infocusonline.org
Description
The mission of InFOCUS is to provide primary eye care to all populations, beginning with those most in need and hardest to serve due to poverty or geographical remoteness.
InFOCUS prepares local organizations to set up and operate Vision Stations in low-income communities. Each Vision Station offers free vision assessment, screening for acanthosis nigricans (to identify children at risk of developing type 2 diabetes), eye health and diabetes education, a children's eye healthchildren's vision healtheye health coloring book, referral to cooperating eye care professionals for reduced-fee eye exams, and follow-up counseling to promote compliance. An optical dispensary at each site offers prescription eyeglasses at a nominal cost. All sites serve children; some serve only children and youth.
Materials for Children and Adolescents
I Can See, an appealing ""read-to-me"" eye health storybook for children
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Indian Health Service
Parklawn Building, Room 6-35
5600 Fishers Lane
Rockville, MD 20857
Phone: (301) 443-3593
Website: www.ihs.gov/
Description
Indian Health Service (IHS) seeks to provide comprehensive health services through IHS facilities, tribally contracted hospitals, health centers, school health centers, and health stations, including medical, dental, and environmental health programs. IHS provides optometric and ophthalmologic doctors in hospital and clinical settings, generally in remote areas, with a substantial number of patients needing care, and provides special programs in disease prevention and health promotion.
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Lighthouse International
111 East 59th Street
New York, NY 10022
Toll-free: 1-800-829-0500
Phone: (212) 821-9200
Fax: (212) 821-9705
TDD: (212) 821-9713
Website: www.lighthouse.org
E-mail: info@lighthouse.org
Description
Lighthouse International, a worldwide resource on vision impairment and vision rehabilitation, is dedicated to enabling people of all ages who are blind or partially sighted to lead independent and productive lives.
The Lighthouse Center for Education seeks to educate people with vision impairment, their families, professionals, and the public about vision impairment and the availability of resources and services that help people overcome the consequences of diminished sight. Through its information and resource service (toll-free), information about eye disease, as well as national and international vision rehabilitation services and resources for people of all ages with impaired vision, is available.
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National Association for Parents of Children with Visual Impairments
P.O. Box 317
Watertown, MA 02471
Toll-free: 1-800-562-6265
Phone: (617) 972-7441
Fax: (617) 972-7444
Website: www.spedex.com/napvi
Description
The National Association for Parents of Children with Visual Impairments (NAPVI) is a national parent organization that gives support, exchanges information, and refers resources to parents with children who are visually impaired. NAPVI reaches parents and families, community groups, and agencies nationally and internationally.
NAPVI programs include:
- Parent education through workshops and conferences.
- A national parent -to -parent information and support network on specific childhood eye conditions and common concerns.
- Publications in English/Spanish, including AWARENESS magazine.
- Advocacy efforts to improve medical and educational services for children and their families.
- The development of parent associations statewide, nationally, and internationally.
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National Association for the Visually Handicapped
22 West 21st Street
New York, NY 10010
Phone: (212) 889-3141 or 212-255-2804
Fax: (212) 727-2931
Website: www.navh.org
E-mail: staff@navh.org
3201 Balboa Street
San Francisco, CA 94121
Phone: (415) 221-3201
Fax: (415) 221-8754
E-mail: staff@navh.org
Description
The National Association for the Visually Handicapped (NAVH) is the only voluntary national health organization that serves solely the partially seeing- - not the totally blind, for whom over 800 helping agencies exist. The NAVH's mission is to promote the use of residual vision so that impaired eyesight need not mean impaired life. To this end, a wide array of visual aids, large print materials, emotional support, educational outreach, and referral services are provided.
Materials for Children and Adolescents
- "Family Guide on the Growth and Development of the Partially Seeing Child," and the Professional Guide to accompany it. Has input from parents of low -vision children, and great guidelines to assist in raising a child with a visual impairment.
- "About Children's Vision - A Guide for Parents," covers information about vision and eye diseases, etc. Very helpful in easy -to -understand language about eye deficiencies in children.
- One Page (2 sides) "About Children's Eyes," which covers what parents should look out for as signs of needing glasses or possible eye deficiencies. It alerts parents and teachers to look out for possible signs of eye problems the child might have.
- "The Eye and Your Vision" publication is in large print and written for the lay public. It explains different refractive errors as well as covering common eye diseases which that can be found in children as well as adults. It also covers contains a brief explanation about visual acuity and a description to assist in understanding low vision and low vision aids. A clear definition explaining of an ophthalmologist and an optometrist is especially important for the reader.
- In addition to the above, the FREE-by-Mail large print loan library of of more than 7,200 titles distributed nationwide contain many titles for children and youth.
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National Diabetes Education Program, National Institutes of Health/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Institutes of Health/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Building 31, Room 9A04
31 Center Drive
Bethesda, MD 20892
Phone: (301) 496-6110
Fax: (301) 496-7422
Website: ndep.nih.gov
Description
The mission of NDEP is to reduce the morbidity and mortality of diabetes and its complications. NDEP, a federally sponsored initiative of the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, involves public and private partners to improve the treatment and outcomes for people with diabetes, to promote early diagnosis, and, ultimately, to prevent the onset of the disease.
Materials for Children and Adolescents
- Diabetes in Children and Adolescents Fact Sheet- - includes information about the different types of diabetes, special issues related to children, legal considerations, and resources.
- Resource Directory: Diabetes in Children and Adolescents -- this Web-based directory provides links to governmental, educational, and voluntary organizations that offer information and resources related to children and adolescents with diabetes.
- Annotated Bibliography -- this online resource for health care professionals and parents of children with diabetes provides abstracts of articles from the biomedical literature about children and adolescents with diabetes, risk factors, and special high -risk populations.
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National Eye Institute (NEI)
31 Center Drive MSC 2510
Bethesda, MD 20892-2510
Tel: (301) 496-5248
http://www.nei.nih.gov
Contact: Rosemary Janiszewski, rjaniszewski@nei.nih.gov
Description
The NEI, part of the National Institutes of Health, is the Federal government's principal agency for conducting and supporting vision research. Through the National Eye Health Education Program, the NEI coordinates public and professional awareness activities related to early detection and timely treatment of eye disease.
Resources
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Prevent Blindness America
500 East Remington Road
Schaumburg, IL 60173-4557
Toll-free: 1-800-331-2020
Fax: (847) 843-8458
Website: www.preventblindness.org
E-mail: info@preventblindness.org
Description
Founded in 1908, Prevent Blindness America (PBA) is the Nation's leading volunteer eye health and safety organization. Prevent Blindness America serves millions of people each year through public information, research, and early detection. Together with a network of affiliates, divisions, and chapters, it is committed to preventing blindness and preserving sight. PBA and its network of field offices conduct vision screening programs in pre-schools and elementary schools to detect common eye problems like amblyopia ("lazy eye"), a sight-threatening problem in children.
Materials for Children and Adolescents
Play It Safe With Your Eyes--video education program on eye health and safety for children preschool through grade 2.
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Prevention of Blindness Society of Metropolitan Washington
1775 Church Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: (202) 234-1010
Fax: (202) 234-1020
Website: www.youreyes.org
E-mail: mail@youreyes.org
Description
The Prevention of Blindness Society of Metropolitan Washington is a nonprofit organization that seeks to prevent needless vision loss among people in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area. The Prevention of Blindness Society of Metropolitan Washington sponsors vision screening, eye health, safety education programs, and the Macular Degeneration Network, and provides eye care to the poor and homeless.
Materials for Children and Adolescents
Your Child's Eyes resource booklet for parents and caregivers of children with vision loss. Cost: $5.
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VISTAKON, Division of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc.
7500 Centurion Parkway
Jacksonville, FL 32256
Telephone: (904) 443-1829
Toll Free: 1-800-876-6622
http://www.acuvue.com
Contact: Stan Yamane syamane@visus.jnj.com
Description
VISTAKON, a division of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc., sponsors the ACUVUE Eye Health Program www.ecp.acuvue.com. This program supports the importance of eye exams through education. The program contains patient education materials that help increase awareness and value of an eye exam and the importance of patient compliance with contact lens wear schedules.
Resources
Sight Matters: Vision Care for Teens
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VSP (Vision Service Plan)
Vision Service Plan
3333 Quality Drive
Rancho Cordova, CA 95670
(916) 463-7221
(916) 463-7591 Fax
http://www.vsp.com Contact: Pam Lapinski; pamla@vsp.com
Description
VSP is dedicated to offering affordable, high-quality eyecare plans that put people first, support visual wellness and improve one's quality of life. As the nation's largest provider of eyecare coverage, thousands of companies rely on VSP to provide a range of vision programs, from plans that meet overall eye health and wellness needs to plans that cover advanced vision correction procedures, including surgery. Our passion for people and their vision doesn't stop at those with VSP coverage. We believe everyone deserves to see well. We actively seek opportunities to give back to the community with programs such as Sight for Students,® which provides free eyecare and eyewear to uninsured, low-income children. In addition, VSP has launched Get Focused, which educates the public about the need for regular eyecare. Learn more about VSP's community outreach.
Resources:
Get Focused: A Classroom Curriculum on the Eye for Grades K to 6th (PDF)
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